Inshore ireland vol 9 nr 5 oct nov 2013

www.inshore-ireland.com The Marine & Freshwater Environment Publication

€1.90/£1.50 Bi-Monthly Maths Week for budding marine researchers Page 21

“We are open for business” seafood chief tells global Cork economic forum PAGE 12

October/November 2013 Vol 9 Issue 5

ONLINE EDITION

You can now view the August/September issue on www.inshore-ireland.com or you can follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/inshore_ireland and Facebook www.facebook.com/InshoreIreland

Allegations of misleading and false information surround salmon farm debate Gery Flynn

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wo formal complaints to the Office of the Ombudsman which could stall the planning process for a large salmon farm in Galway Bay have been slammed by the project’s promoter BIM as a “deliberate attempt designed to confuse the general public”.

The office confirmed to Inshore Ireland that it was dealing with two separate complaints by the Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) against two government departments.

The complaints concern the parts played by both departments during a recent EU Commission investigation into sea lice and salmon farms.

“Complaints by the FIE in relation to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) are still open and ongoing,” a spokeswoman for the office told Inshore Ireland.

the DAFM the sole agency in charge of responding to the investigation.’

According to the FIE statement: ‘Assigning control of the response to the DAFM was like putting the fox in charge of the chicken house.’

This is the latest episode in what has become an increasingly fractious planning process for the BIM-proposed salmon farm and has exposed inter-departmental fault lines with scientists at DAFM and the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources

(DCENR) disagreeing openly on the level of sea lice impact from farmed salmon on wild salmon populations.

War of words

In a press release (17/09), FIE claims that after Simon Coveney became Minister for Agriculture in June 2011, the DAFM and the DCENR engaged in a war of words via email over the results of a then unpublished manuscript whose authors included scientists from Inland Fisheries Ireland (under DCENR) and the Marine

Institute (under DAFM).

Based on the Referee’s report of the manuscript, DAFM had serious doubts about the conclusions and did not want it to be published.

The FIE quotes DAFM demanding of DCENR that ‘Transmission of your Department’s observations to the Commission would not only be misleading but would also cause confusion in the public mind regarding sea lice controls and possibly undermine the State’s regulatory system.

For these reasons I would

ask you to withdraw the formal observations of your Department and to support the observations supplied to the Commission by DAFM.’

Selected information

Inshore Ireland can reveal however that this is misleading, and represents only part of an internal email between two senior officers from both departments. »» page 14

Suppressed information

FIE has accused the DAFM of ‘suppressing and denying the existence’ of a report from Inland Fisheries Ireland which had been specifically requested by EU investigators.

The FIE says the report in question ‘was highly critical of the defence of salmon farming and sea lice that the Department was making to the Commission’.

Its second complaint, against the DFA, is that it ‘failed to assign the responsibility for responding to the Commission to include Inland Fisheries Ireland, and instead made

This is the first time in the history of the State the Defence Forces has appointed a Rear Admiral. Rear Admiral Mark Mellett (DSM) takes up the appointment of Deputy Chief of Staff Support. (see page 3)

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inshore ireland October/November 2013

News

Ireland challenged to become global maritime leader

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t the annual IMERC conference at the National Maritime College of Ireland , Chris Roche, Chief

Technical Officer of EMC, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa), challenged participants to ‘make the leap’ to disruptive innovation to help Ireland

realise its ocean potential.

The government aims is to increase turnover from the sea to €6.4 billion by 2030.

A disruptive innovation is an innovation that disrupts, improves

Commodore Mark Mellett, Irish Naval Services; Michael Delaney, Acting Head of College, National Maritime College of Ireland; Dr Val Cummins, Director IMERC; David Stanton TD; Major General Ralph James, Deputy Chief of Staff, Irish Defence Forces.

Marine Institute Foras na Mara

and replaces an existing product, process approach or idea over time in unexpected ways.

“It’s fantastic to see a cluster around such an obvious potential benefit to the country. The major question is [whether] IMERC will move at enough speed and really embrace disruptive innovation?”

He added that while Ireland was not among countries with the longest coastlines it does however have the largest maritime to land mass area in the EU and is the third largest territory in the EU when its seabed is included. This means the maritime sector has huge growth possibilities for the Irish economy.

“To be successful, Ireland

will have to be innovative in its approach to building networks to take advantage of big data in the maritime sector.”

Dallas Meggitt, CEO of Sound and Sea Technology, told delegates that SST has announced the creation of 55 new jobs, to be located on the IMERC campus.

IMERC is already contributing to this sector with advanced plans for the development of a research and commercial campus in Ringaskiddy.

IMERC, the Irish Maritime and Energy Resource Cluster, is a partnership between University College Cork, Cork Institute of Technology and the Irish Naval Services.

ISEFPO receives recognition

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he Irish South and East Fish Producers Organisation (ISEFPO) have received official recognition under EU Regulation from Minister Coveney.

“Since we opened our office in Waterford we have increased membership from all sectors of the fishing industry. We now represent some of the largest white fish companies and have vessels which fish all species including prawns, the entire scallop fleet and beam trawlers. We have a large number of members involved in the sentential herring

fishery also, which is of great importance to the Dunmore East area,” remarked the CEO, Caitlín Uí Aodha.

She added the organisation would give “the best service possible” to its members and hoped to keep issues of vital importance to the forefront.

“Our lack of quota will remain at the top of our agenda and in any way we can, we will fight to increase that quota to keep our fleet viable.”

“We would especially like to thank Minister Coveney and the Department of the Marine for their co-operation over the past number of months,” she added.

Our Ocean - A Shared Resource Ár n-Aigéan - Acmhainn Comhroinnte Ireland’s National Agency for Marine Research and Innovation An Ghníomhaireacht Náisiúnta um Thaighde Mara agus Nuálaíochta

www.marine.ie

Back Row left to right: Maura Power (ISEFPO), Trudy McIntyre (Member), Miriam Kearney (ISEFPO), Brendan Leonard (member), Liz O’Toole (member), Pat Fitzgerald.

Front Row left to right: John Lynch (Director) & Caitlín Uí Aodha (CEO).

inshore ireland October/November 2013

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Comment

Debate ‘darkens’ over proposed salmon-farm project

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or the second time this year, BIM’s proposal to site a large salmon farming operation in the outreaches of Galway Bay near Inis Oírr is the subject of our frontpage story.

By now, no one can be in any doubt that this proposal has managed to raise the volume – if not the quality - of debate as it works its way through the planning system to an eventual Ministerial decision.

Those who oppose seabased fin fish aquaculture have again shown themselves to be formidable opponents, and the closer we get to a decision, the more intense their arguments become.

As Inshore Ireland went to press we learnt that the Office of the Ombudsman had opened preliminary investigations into two formal complaints from environmental lobby group, Friends of the Irish Environment against two government departments: the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine for allegedly deliberately withholding information from an EU Commission investigation; and the Department of Foreign Affairs for its alleged stance in dealing with the EU Commission.

Mislead by misinformation

We live in a democracy so therefore the FIE is perfectly entitled and within its rights to pursue its agenda by using the democratic mechanisms of the State. That said, what the FIE is

not entitled to do, is to mislead the public by seemingly being selective with passages from interdepartmental communications in order to bolster its case.

Friends of the Irish Environment has gathered a body of material on its opposition to sea-based caged salmon farming which is displayed on its website.

On the Galway Bay project alone it has almost thirty links to downloadable material.

At the heart of our lead story in this issue is an email between senior civil servants in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. This email should be read – very carefully.

Following a Freedom of Information request, the email and its attachments is readily

available for examination; however the email ONLY appears on the FIE website.

If nothing else, the email shines an interesting light on the way civil servants communicate with each other.

In order to clearly understand all the complexities of what is being discussed in this email, the attachments referred to ought to be included. It is not acceptable to make an argument by selectively quoting what suits.

And this – either by accident or by design – is what seems to have happened here.

By all means let’s encourage and facilitate lively and robust debate over the issues likely to impact our fragile environment.

More importantly however, let’s ensure that all the evidence is available for people to make up their own mind.

comment

Gery Flynn

Inshore Ireland wishes Mark Mellett ‘fair winds and following seas’ in his new appointment

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Dear Editor

Y

our very supportive comments for BIM’s recently published five year strategy featured extensively throughout your last issue of Inshore Ireland, in a front page article and an in-depth interview inside. BIM values the seafood industry to Irish economy at over €5bn and lose no opportunity to include 1% of farmed salmon in these figure while the wild sea fisheries and seafood processing sectors

represent 99% of the business.

Your editorial states that “the aquaculture sector and fin-fish farming in particular, has declined over the decade partly because of the issues around various EU directives.

There is no doubt that much of the early gloss and optimism has disappeared, and it has been effectively mothballed for a decade.”

EU compliance is one reason, but the main one is because international wild salmon conservation bodies led by FISSTA in Ireland, and our campaign

Inshore Ireland is published by IIPL Ltd

n Tuesday November 5, the Minister for Justice, Equality & Defence, Alan Shatter TD, announced the appointment of Commodore Mark Mellett to the position of Deputy Chief of Staff (Support) of the Defence Forces.

Commodore Mellett (DSM) is from Mayo and joined the Navy in 1976. His first Command was LÉ ORLA in 1992 and he subsequently commanded LÉ CIARA in 1997 and the Irish Naval Flagship LÉ EITHNE in 2005.

Commodore Mellett has held a broad range of appointments in the Naval Headquarters and

more recently as Commandant of the Naval College and Associate Head of the National Maritime College of Ireland.

Prior to his appointment as Flag Officer in 2010 he was Officer Commanding Naval Operations Command Besides citations for service in Afghanistan (2004) and Lebanon (1989), as Captain of LÉ ORLA (1994) he was honoured by becoming the Navy’s second officer recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) in recognition of the role of his ship in the detention of the drug smuggling yacht Brime.

Commodore Mellett has a PhD (2009) in Oceans Governance

from the National University of Ireland, Galway and M Com (2004) in Government and Public Policy from University College Cork. He is a distinguished graduate of the US Naval War College Newport RI (1999) where he was the top graduate of the thirty two attending countries. He was also the top graduate in both the Irish Command and Staff College (1998) and the Royal Naval College Greenwich (1989).

Commodore Mellett is married to Liz and they have four children, Laura, Sean, Lisa and Patrick and they live in Carrigaline. He is very interested in physical fitness and is a qualified Naval Diver.

supporters, have succeeded in exposing the unsustainable and unacceptable industrial practices such as were highlighted in the RTE Prime Time programme of September 2003.

Arguments were won then by our reasoned submissions delivered to the Joint Oireachtas Committee which was urgently convened in response to the outcry.

The Oireachtas transcript produced a damning account for all to read and sadly standards have declined further since then.

All eyes are now on Minister Coveney who will ‘independently’ adjudicate over his own plan in an application from BIM seeking an aquaculture licence to

the Galway Bay offshore salmon farm. It is over a year since the very flawed EIS was published and put out for public consultation.

FISSTA lodged our concerns in a 35 page objection which we have updated for the first anniversary as much more information has been unearthed since then. Climatic increases in the temperature of our coastline waters make it impossible to produce a fraction of the 150,000 tons that is planned. But the damage to our existing employment in the angling tourism sector which supports 30,000 jobs is the major concern for us all in the wild fisheries sector. The success of the recent Origin Green Bord Bia food conference

may be jeopardized by the farmed salmon product when international competitors of our finest beef, lamb and pork seek to undermine our market share. Why is the Irish Farmers Association gambling with their real farmers future while the fish farmers piggy back on their reputation to the international food fairs.

Ten years ago salmon farming was at the edge of an abyss which the then Minister avoided. Ten years on we have more new and damning information at hand. Surely, this minister, with a new CAP and CFP under his belt, is not about to take one mad giant step forward into it now?

Yours sincerely, Noel Carr, Rúnaí.

Editor

Features Editor

Advertising

Design

Gillian Mills

Gery Flynn

Durgan Media

mills@inshore-ireland.com

flynn@inshore-ireland.com

01 235 4804

091 844822

Gillian Mills Gery Flynn

info@durganmedia.ie

074 91 94477

The publishers do not accept responsibility for the veracity of claims made by contributors and advertisers. While care is taken to ensure accuracy of information contained within Inshore Ireland, we do not accept responsibility for any errors or matters arising from same.

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inshore ireland October/November 2013

News

Commitment from Minister Coveney to review survey funding Pauric Gallagher

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dvice given by ICES on certain stocks is often in total contrast to what fishermen are seeing on the ground. Now ICES has shifted from advising on landings to basing it on catches for 2014 (the amount of fish actually caught at sea instead of what is brought to shore).

The advice released for fishing opportunities in the whitefish sector for 2014 makes for grim reading and the proposed cuts will have a significant impact on the Irish fishing industry if they are implemented anywhere close to their maximum.

Essential science

The need to maximise our fisheries resources is of paramount importance to the industry right now, and in doing so must also be accomplished in a biologically sustainable way. To achieve this level, the most up-to-date robust science is an essential requirement if Ireland is to argue for higher TACs at European institutional level.

The Marine Institute is Ireland’s national scientific institution, charged with providing important scientific data on fish stocks to ICES; however like many other public service organisations at

present, it is struggling to do more with fewer resources.

Inadequate funding

Francis O’ Donnell, CEO of the Irish Fish Producers Organisation (IFPO) told Inshore Ireland, that the Marine Institute simply does not have the funding at present to carry out all the necessary studies our industry requires.

“This means that Ireland is unable to avail of its limited fishing opportunities in full.

The funding of surveys has become a sticking point and the industry is asked to prioritise surveys in the order of importance. We simply need them all to take place and I have argued for a new model for some time now.

“I have also asked that money is ring fenced within the Marine Institute’s annual budget so that all the necessary surveys can be carried out.

We are either serious about our fisheries or we are not.”

He added that Minister Simon Coveney has given them a commitment to explore options to ensure that as an industry we can move away from the scenario of having to prioritise our survey choices due to lack of funding.

“New thinking is required that gives our fisheries scientists the required resources with a view to maximise already limited fishing opportunities,” he said.

inshore ireland October/November 2013

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News

Helium balloons, ‘Happy Meals’ and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive

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he number of balloons on Irish shores, in our waters and in our marine life, is growing, according to Coastwatch.

From data they have seen so far for this autumn’s survey, more volunteers are noticing this type of litter, especially along the Irish Sea coast.

While this marine litter item is not yet counted in the Coastwatch survey, pilot counts on Ballymoney beach Co Wexford, suggest around two deflated helium balloons per kilometer per week with spikes after balloon release events.

About half of the balloons on the shore are latex, with various shiny plastic and nylon materials making up the rest.

According to the balloon industry, these imported balloons, which are either handed out free - e.g. with a ‘Happy Meal’ or bought to mark every conceivable occasion - are environment friendly when made of latex, says Coastwatch.

“But it’s not grey natural latex; it’s a bright coloured, sticky latex material with plasticisers and artificial dyes on a string that can entangle wildlife, glue up

intestines when ingested and take years to degrade,” they explain.

Most gas balloons burst into 1,000 pieces and so become harmless, Coastwatch has been advised.

In water however, these form little bright coloured morsels for ingestion by marine life and based on recent scientific research on plastic ingestion, more and more marine biota from sand hoppers, over shrimp, prawns, fish, seals right up to the large cetaceans have our marine litter in their gut, they say.

A recent Bird study showed shearwaters feeding their chicks with significant amount of tiny litter pieces.

According to Coastwatch, the passing of the Marine Directive (MSFD) has given ‘added impetus’ to research on the impacts and action to tackle marine litter.

“We underestimated the role of micro litter even five years ago.

Now as research results mount, we must act. Among the platter of marine litter problems we can most easily avoid is using gas balloons.

“Event organisers and shops – especially Party shops - need to substitute celebration ‘things’.

Seafood agency secures marked increase in 2014 budget allocation

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IM has welcomed the Government’s allocation of ‘significantly increased funds’ to the Irish seafood industry. Figures show a commitment of €7 million going to the sector in 2014.

“We are delighted with this announcement which signifies a 75% increase on our 2013 funding of €4m,”remarked their chief executive, Jason Whooley He added that Minister Coveney’s commitment was a “vote of confidence” in the agency and also in the wider industry.

“The increased funds will be critical in ensuring BIM assists the industry with CFP implementation but will also ensure that we continue with the strategic development of a scaled Irish seafood industry that can capitalise on the growing opportunities for seafood in global markets. BIM looks forward to working with Minister Coveney and the Government in delivering on its Food Harvest 2020 targets for seafood and employment,” he said.

M

inister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Dick Roche): answering a Dáil question on the subject prompted by Friends of the Irish Environment (23875/05] stated: I am advised that problems caused by mass balloon releases were first highlighted at a conference in Canada in 1989 on plastic and other debris found at sea. Balloons, some still partially inflated, had been found accumulating on islands off the east coast of Canada.

In response to these findings some countries curtailed balloon releases. I am further advised of reports showing that an estimated 90% to 95% of released balloons rise to an altitude of five miles where the temperature and pressure is such that they burst into small fragments, with no potential to harm marine wildlife.

While there have been reports of marine animals found with balloons in their stomachs, I understand that balloons form an extremely small percentage of potentially hazardous marine debris. It is not proposed at present to introduce legislation prohibiting the mass release of balloons.

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inshore ireland October/November 2013

YOURVIEW

The Maam River, one of Lough Corrib’s head streams.

Photo G Mills

Irish salmon: the questions that must be asked Philip Clesham Natural scientist, commercial lawyer and keen angler

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reland has unique inshore assets that must be managed in an enduring and sustainable way for the maximum benefit of as many people as possible. But for too long we have looked to other countries and have asked: ‘Why can’t we have what they have?’ Instead, perhaps Ireland should be asking: ‘What has Ireland got that other countries don’t have?’

So, it is refreshing to see that the proposed mega-scale caged salmon farm in Galway Bay has awoken a debate that focuses on our own unique inshore assets, in a serious way.

When contemplating this development, it might be prudent however to first ask some questions and look for answers before making a decision: How can Ireland be a leader and develop its unique assets by means of product differentiation from other competing countries to ensure an enduring and sustainable gain for as many people as possible?

Will intensive salmon farming in Galway Bay operate in a sustainable and enduring way for the maximum benefit of all, and should Ireland first look at alternatives before committing to a mega-scale caged salmon farm strategy?

What would be the impact of this development on the natural habitat and existing business?

Would the proposed development put the same product on the market as that produced by other salmon farming countries, and what would be the impact of largescale farm production on the price of farmed salmon on the international market?

Would a farmed ‘salmonopoly’ business strategy work? Is there an alternative development strategy that would reap greater rewards for a wider group of people - wild salmon ranching, for example, with benefits going to both angling tourism and food processing?

Wild salmon harvesting alternative Ireland has magnificent freshwater river and lake system assets set by the Atlantic on the western outpost of Europe.

Perhaps Ireland could develop unfed fry salmon hatcheries (low cost when compared to intensive

freshwater smolt-units), to be released into the multitude of head streams high up in our river systems to generate a population of young salmon that would feed in freshwater; migrate to sea; feed on the high seas and return to the very same river of their origin to be harvested in a sustainable and enduring way to the maxim benefit of all?

For example, 33% returning wild salmon harvested for food on return to their respective rivers of origin; 33% quota set aside for angling tourism (an anglers code of catch and release may reduce this proportion) and 33% allowed through to spawn and replenish stocks for the future.

Would the proportion of wild salmon harvested for food carry a unique Irish product differentiator - wild Atlantic salmon commanding a premium price - not to mention the wild brand and value-add processing opportunity?

Could such an initiative span and scale across a multitude of businesses, perhaps gaining protected geographic indications across many localities within the Irish domestic economy?

This could lead to demand for premium quality with significant VAT returns; create diverse vertical employments, increase

exports and enhance Ireland’s reputation as a true leader in the food sector, as well as Ireland becoming a premium destination for angling tourism with all the associated potential business spins offs?

As the crow flies clockwise round Ireland a multitude of rivers systems can be identified: Boyne; Liffey; Avoca; Slaney; Barrow; Nore; Suir; Blackwater; Lee; Bandon; Arrigadeen; Ilen; various Kerry systems (including Caragh, Waterville, Laune); Feale; Deel; Mague; The Shannon System; The Corrib System; various Connemara spate systems including Screebe and Ballynahinch); The Moy System and other Mayo Systems (Erriff; Delphi; Owenmore; Owenduff); Drowse & Melvin System; various Donegal systems, (Foyle and Finn).

Could these names one day be marketed the same way as champagne districts - not only as producers of premium ‘wild’ salmon but to bolster Ireland’s standing as a world-class angling destination as well?

According to the European Anglers Association (EAA) there are 25m anglers in Europe (5m registered members); 44m anglers in the USA generating $44.5bn in retail sales, $7.3bn in Federal and State taxes and over 1 million jobs!

Catching a wild Atlantic salmon on our side of the pond is a prize and valued experience for any angler and one that anglers are prepared to travel and pay for and often return with their angling friends. What is the actual value of a rod-caught salmon to the Irish economy when you consider travel and hospitality? Is there scope for additional retail business opportunities?

It is a concern to see the public scrap between BIM and the IFI on this issue. Surely there is scope for common ground here?

Just imagine: the IFI regulating hatcheries; harvesting and managing the salmon stock and being responsible for lawful recreational fishing, with BIM and Bord Bia working with the private sector to market Ireland’s unique wild and smoked wild salmon products that would command a premium price internationally, and Bord Fáilte continuing to promote Ireland’s unique angling tourism product.

Surely, there must be more scope for a meeting of minds, setting common objectives, and collaboration between State functions to devise a common vision with the public interest at heart to grow an enduring sustainable economic activity in harmony with nature for the benefit of all.

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Inshore Ireland and its publishers do not accept responsibility for the veracity of claims made by contributors. While every care is taken to ensure accuracy of information, we do not accept responsibility for any errors, or matters arising from same. Contact the editor at mills@inshore-ireland.com.

Flooding and fracking don’t mix Sian Cowman

E

ven though it was a few years ago now, you probably remember the 2009 flooding across the country? It’s not often we get floods that fierce; although of course in a watery country like Ireland, minor flooding is a pretty regular occurrence.

Colorado got some bad flooding this September 17.15 inches of rain fell in the Boulder region over a few days, in what is being called a ‘thousand-year’ flood. To complicate matters, Colorado has 50,000 oil and gas wells, and the Boulder area is one of the most intensely exploited in the State, with more than more than 20,000 wells. The State’s well inspectors are scrambling to assess the flood damage.

As you may know, Ireland is currently considering whether to allow the practice of

‘fracking’ to exploit shale gas, which would involve drilling wells on land, like in Colorado.

Proposed methodology

Fracking is a process whereby fluid is injected into shale rock at high pressure to create small fractures where gas trapped in the rock can flow out. The terminology can be misleading, as there are different types of hydraulic fracturing. It is often said that it is a technology that’s been around for 60 years.

But the process of highvolume slick water horizontal hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) that is being proposed in Ireland is a different type than the older vertical fracking.

Only since the 1990s has fracking evolved into the new creature of HVHF. Four different technologies have made the change possible.

Firstly, directional drilling means that additional to kilometre-deep vertical drilling, wells also extend one kilometre horizontally.

Flooding at Carrick-on-Shannon in 2009

Secondly, the volumes of fluid are higher, and hundreds of chemicals are used in the millions of litres of water.

Thirdly, the water is known as ‘slick water’ because it includes lubricants. Lastly, technology has allowed for multi-well pads and cluster drilling, meaning there are several wells on one platform.

This new type of fracking comes with heavier infrastructure. Dr Anthony Ingraffea, Cornell University Professor, explains in Ecowatch: ‘Because it’s a spatially intense, heavy industrial activity which involves far more than drill-the-wellfrack-the-well-connect-thepipeline-and-go-away, it results in much more land clearing and much more devastation of forests and fields. There’s the necessity of building thousands of miles of pipelines which again results in destruction of forests and fields. There’s the construction of many compressor stations, industrial facilities that compress the gas for transport

through pipelines and burn enormous quantities of diesel.’

Chemicallaced water

In Colorado, many oil and gas wells and their accompanying infrastructure, including at least one oil pipeline, were damaged or washed away by the floods.

Some of the areas being considered for fracking in Ireland are parts of Leitrim, Fermanagh, Donegal, Sligo, and Clare. Many of these regions have a reputation for being a bit damp – and locals in Carrick-on-Shannon, Leitrim, have not forgotten the high water that covered a large part of the town in 2009.

The more commonly known contamination risk to water from fracking is the likelihood of chemical-laced water and methane migrating underground to drinking water aquifers. At first glance, flood damage to wells may not seem like such a big issue: surely the oil and gas companies will just have to pay to fix the damage?

But the problem is more complex than just infrastructure damage.

As Dr Ingraffea also pointed out in Ecowatch: ‘The highest risk to water is when the fracking chemicals are on the surface being stored and being pumped down for fracking, and when they and the harmful materials that had been sequestered in the shale return to the surface after fracking in what is called flowback fluid.’

With the storage of hazardous substances a standard part of modern fracking operations, Colorado is now facing a potential long-term toxic contamination problem on top of the ‘regular’ flood damage. It’s going to cost a lot of money just to inspect the damage, let alone attempt clean-up. In a food-producing area, this kind of contamination can really affect people’s livelihoods.

Does Ireland have the resources to deal with a similar problem if it were to arise here?

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inshore ireland October/November 2013

Freshwater Focus

New study provides insight into the history of the Killarney Shad locations in the south of Ireland.

An investigation into the history of the DNA reveals a major split between allis and twaite shad, and that the Killarney shad diverged from the twaite shad.

The Killarney shad exhibits two very different DNA haplotypes, indicating that at least two colonisation events occurred during the retreat of the ice sheet, the first of these approximately 16,000 years ago after the Last Glacial Maximum, and again during the Younger Dryas glaciation about 7,000 years ago. The two haplotypes are likely to have originated from two different glacial refugia, a pattern that has also been seen in Atlantic salmon colonisation.

Twaite shad.

Denise O’Meara

K

illarney National Park situated in the southwest of Ireland is famous for some unusual species not found elsewhere in the country. These include

Photo Inland Fisheries Ireland

the Kerry spotted slug (Geomalacus maculosus) - a small snail also found in Iberia, but absent from Britain.

The park also contains some of the oldest natural woodlands in Ireland; the yew and oak are of international significance. It is surrounded by Ireland’s highest

mountain peaks (Magillicuddy’s Reeks) and the Killarney Lakes attract thousands of visitors annually.

Ecological independence The three lakes while interconnected are surprisingly ecologically independent of one

The 6th AQUAEXCEL Call for Access is now open, with a deadline of 13 December 2013.

On a regular basis, the AQUAEXCEL project invites proposals from European research groups for scientific research that utilises the facilities of any of the participating Aquaculture Research Infrastructures. The AQUAEXCEL project unites major aquaculture experimental facilities with capacity to undertake experimental trials on a selection of commercially important fish aquaculture species and system types. These facilities are made available to the research community for Transnational Access (TNA) with the support of the European Union 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (Infrastructures).

The facilities available cover the entire range of production systems (recirculation, flow through, cage, hatchery and pond systems); environments (freshwater and marine, cold, temperate and warm water); scales (small, medium and industrial scale); fish species (salmon, trout, sea bass, sea bream, cod, common carp etc.); and fields of expertise (nutrition, physiology, health and welfare, genetics, engineering, monitoring and management technologies).

Interested researchers can propose projects that involve visits of one or in some cases two people to the chosen Research Infrastructure for periods of up to 3 months. The use of the facilities (excluding any additional costs) is covered through AQUAEXCEL partner funding and the associated travel and subsistence expenses for the visiting scientist(s) will be paid through the host institution, according to their internal rules for reimbursement.

For more information, visit: www.aquaexcel.eu/call for access

another, each containing its own ecosystem. The largest of these lakes, Lough Leane, contains the fish species, Killarney shad (Alosa fallax killarnensis), a subspecies of twaite shad and is unique to the area. Ireland has three species of shad; two others - the twaite shad (Alosa fallax) and the allis shad (Alosa alosa) - are also present.

Shads are known as anadromous species as they spend most of their lives in the sea and only migrate to freshwater sites to spawn. The best known example is the salmon.

Of the Irish shads, the only landlocked example is the Killarney shad; the species is currently listed as ‘critically endangered,’ according to the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) Red List. Shads occur along the northeast Atlantic coast and can be found from Morocco to Iceland; however they are among the rarest breeding fish in Ireland.

Although there are no barriers preventing the shad from leaving Lough Leane today, there is evidence of historical barriers, possibly thousands of years ago.

Taxonomic status It likely that the Killarney shad adapted to live in fresh water permanently over time, but how this occurred is poorly understood. There is also some debate on the taxonomic status of the Killarney shad species, and if it is indeed a subspecies.

These are questions that Ilaria Coscia and a team of co-authors from University College Dublin, Ireland; University of Leuven, Belgium; Inland Fisheries Ireland and the University of Salford, UK, have attempted to address in a new study just published in the Journal of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.

Coscia collected 27 samples of the Killarney shad; 34 twaite shad from the River Barrow and 32 allis shad from various

Nuclear DNA Coscia also examined the nuclear DNA (composed of material inherited from both parents) which gives a more contemporary view of the genetics of the species. The results gave additional support for the separation of the Killarney shad from the twaite shad, a separation which was statistically similar to the separation of allis from twaite (both recognised species).

Interestingly, the data also shows that at one time, the two twaite lineages established in the lake.

This event mostly likely occurred many thousands of years apart, with the population becoming isolated in Killarney and the two lineages then beginning to breed and formed a single population.

Coscia also showed that the two divergent lineages in Lough Leane have successfully admixed over the years so that no contemporary signature of genetic subdivision remains evident in the species.

Her research conservatively points to various characteristics such as size, behaviour, morphological and physiological changes that the Killarney shad has undergone due to thousands of years of isolation from its closest related ancestor, the twaite shad.

Coscia suggests that combined with the genetic evidence this could support the subspecies status for the Killarney shad.

Coscia however warns that the species is critically endangered, and the closest extant relative, the twaite shad (also quite rare) would not be suitable to supplement the population through translocations due to differences such as life history traits.

In order to conserve this unique species, Coscia recommends that the species and the surrounding environment needs to be closely monitored to prevent eutrophication (addition of nitrates) and the establishment of invasive species. She advises that such measures should be of the paramount importance, given the uniqueness of species shown in this study.

inshore ireland October/November 2013

9

freshwater focus

Lough Ramor Perch on a roach pole Brendan Connolly

F

rom the middle of cities to the tops of mountains, there are fishing spots all over Ireland. Among these countrywide angling locations are some special areas, such as Virginia, Co Cavan.

Situated on the shores of Lough Ramor, a small river flows through the town and into the lake. This river flows over a shallow stony riffle before deepening in its last 100 metres to then flow into the lough.

Going back 45 years or more, shoals of perch from the lake used to enter this short final stretch of the river in droves - and they still do. The river is less than 10 metres wide, and is a popular fishing spot for the occasional as well as the more experienced angler.

Summer holidays see children and adults casting maggots and worms on all sorts of rods - some half broken - as the perch are a mere few yards from the angler.

Some fish with a float, or ledger on the bottom, and others spin small silver spinners past the perch, but all are virtually guaranteed to get a pull or two.

As fishing areas go it is small, nevertheless there are few angling spots in Ireland that provide so much enjoyment for so many anglers.

With the memory of a

notable day’s fishing still in mind after more than 40 years, one angler decided to revisit that small river flowing into Lough Ramor.

Line, float and leAd shot

Armed with a 7-metre roach pole and with some dung worms as bait, the angler drove to Virginia and turned down to the lakeshore. He attached about 3 metres of line with a float, some lead shot, and a No. 12 barbless hook to the elastic at the top of the roach pole. The river being narrow - no more than 10 metres wide - the roach pole was sufficiently long to position the float exactly in the right spot andto hold it there against the current.

Baiting the hook with a small worm, he pushed out the telescopic sections of the roach pole and allowed the bait to drop and settle right above where he had seen silver flashes of perch turning.

Almost immediately the float bobbed up and down as the perch took nips at the protruding ends of the worm, however the float stayed at the surface and moved slowly downstream. Using the reach of the roach pole, the angler gently moved the float upstream again to exactly where he had spotted the perch. The float bobbed again and then disappeared below the surface. The angler lifted the pole, and after a couple of sharp tugs, the perch let go.

The angler re-baited the hook and this time when the

float was pulled below the surface, the angler struck more firmly and the perch stayed on.

Retracting the telescopic rod section by section, the angler allowed the line to go slack, and perch was lost again.

Remembering that the hook was barbless, the angler resolved to keep the line tight and once more positioned the float. Not long afterwards the plan worked and he landed his first perch of the day.

The perch at Virginia are not big, ranging from small to medium in size; however, they more than make up for this by their sheer numbers.

The angler continued to catch perch, losing a couple of perch for every one he landed.

Hardly a minute went by when the float was not bobbing up and down or being pulled under.

This certainly is a very active mini-fishery but because so many people fish here, the perch are quite experienced.

They nip at the bait without fully taking the hook. Using the 7-metre reach of the roach pole allowed exact positioning of the float and the bait could be repeatedly lifted up slightly and allowed to sink to entice these experienced perch to bite, which they inevitably did.

A couple of hours fishing produced quite a number of perch that were immediately released.

This short stretch of river, although small and sometimes busy, still provides a very rewarding angling experience in a scenic spot on the shores of Lough Ramor.

Virginia river meets Lough Ramor

Bright eyed, healthy looking perch

New study reveals pike native to Ireland

I

nland Fisheries Ireland has welcomed the publication of a scientific paper relating to one of Ireland’s key angling species – pike.

Pike (Esox lucius) is a species thought to have been introduced by man in the last few hundred years. Results from this research however show that the colonisation history is more complex, with an indication they may have colonised naturally some thousands of years ago.

Computer modelling of genetic data has indicated that pike probably colonised Ireland in two waves; the first approximately 8,000 years ago, close to the end of the Ice Age, and the second approximately 1,000 years ago, with the Normans.

This is deemed very interesting as it is the first evidence of natural colonisation of a freshwater fish to the island of Ireland.

“I welcome the findings from this important investigation and commend the excellent collaboration between UCD and IFI, who have recently signed a MOU to support this type of ground-breaking research,” remarked Fergus O’Dowd, Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.

“These important results will influence IFI’s on-going management strategy for this species. Further investigations, using new and developing genomic techniques, will be used to endorse these findings,” added Dr Cathal Gallagher, Head of Research and Development for IFI. “What is really intriguing is how the examination of genetic material allowed us to build a hypothesis, which was then found to fit extremely well into the

Dr Joe Caffrey, Inland Fisheries Ireland historical and archaeological background,” explained Debbi Pedreschi, lead author.

The study was conducted in

partnership with the School of Biology & Environment Science UCD, with support from the Irish Federation of

Pike Angling Club, and the University of Salford, under the co-supervision of Prof.

Stefano Mariani.

10 inshore ireland October/November 2013

Fisheries

Oyster growers look east to Asia for new market

B

IM-organised innovation conference for Ireland’s oyster growers took place in late September.

The Irish oyster industry is experiencing ‘unprecedented demand from new markets with exports climbing from €25m to over €40m

between 2011 and 2013, delegates were told.

The opening business event of Galway’s 2013 International Oyster & Seafood Festival, attracted strong turn-out from Irish growers, who after France, now form the largest oyster grower group in the EU, and are the top performers in

E-LOCATE A scheme to financially assist seafood enterprises implement common standards of weighing, labelling and traceability.

BIM invites applications for grant aid under E-LOCATE; A scheme to financially assist seafood enterprises implement common standards of weighing, labelling and traceability in order to satisfy the requirements of Council Regulation 1224/2009 and Commission Implementing Regulation 404/2011.

The scheme covers the setting up of new weighing, labelling and traceability technologies and IT networks, in order to allow the efficient and secure collection and management of product related data.

The scheme specifically supports the purchase and installation of: 1. Network infrastructure, core software and peripheral items necessary to set up new, approved systems to implement common standards of weighing, labelling and traceability and 2. New peripheral elements to be added to already installed, approved systems.

This scheme is open for applications between 1 December 2013 and 31 March 2014.

Full details of the scheme are available at www.bim.ie/schemes Hard copies of the scheme are available from: E-LOCATE, Bord Iascaigh Mhara, Fisheries Development and Training Services Division, P.O. Box 12, Crofton Road, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin.

Tel: (01) 2144 173 E-mail: giltrap@bim.ie This scheme is funded by the European Union This measure is part-financed by the European Union

Ireland’s shellfish exports for 2012/13 at a record €74m.

Brand recognition Irish oyster farmers produce around 9,000 tonnes per annum with 86% of production exported to France. This is a target market that “could be doubled for the Irish industry who in the last two years have seen prices go from €3,500 to €4,500 per tonne,” according to BIM’s Aquaculture Business Development Manager, Richard Donnelly.

“The Irish oyster industry has a tradition of selling directly to intermediate distributors in the French market. But this approach offers little brand recognition. Already, Irish oysters are sold at the quality end or ‘Spéciale’ segment of the French market, “he said.

“Our coastline with its excellent water quality is uniquely suited to cultivating quality oysters. We need to capitalise on that by achieving greater brand awareness. BIM is eager for producers to take control of the marketing process and to work on developing their own identity, particularly in the newer international markets such as Hong Kong and China.”

He added that building the Irish oyster brand awareness strategy has already seen some success.

“Irish Premium Oysters and Majestic Donegal Oysters are now becoming well renowned among discerning customers for their superior quality and taste. With new markets like China and Asia opening up for Irish seafood exports, strong branding is now an imperative”, added Donnelly.

Fixed penalty system to be introduced for Irish fleet Pauric Gallagher

M

inister Coveney is set to introduce a fixed penalty system for minor fisheries offences aimed at forming a much improved enforcement mechanism for less serious fisheries infractions. The fixed penalty system will reduce administrative and other costs for fishermen and the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) alike.

At present, Ireland is the only maritime jurisdiction in the EU without a system of administrative sanctions for some fishery offences.

Instead, even minor breaches of regulations are dealt with by the courts which can lead to a criminal conviction for its fishermen.

Francis O’ Donnell CEO of the Irish Fish Producer’s Organisation has welcomed the move: “This is something that the

sector has been calling for and now it is set to happen. The fixed penalty system should not be confused with the penalty point system which forms part of the control regulation. The latter is for serious offences such as Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.”

He added that Minister Coveney was working with the SFPA with a view to establishing a list of minor offences that can be dealt with under the Irish fixed penalty system.

“The objective here is to apply appropriate sanctions for minor offences, to avoid the costs of the court system for the State and the vessel in question,” he explained.

“We hope to see this new system introduced early next year but we still have some work to do in this area. Under the existing system, if the State fails to prove its case against a vessel, the master/ owner is still left with the cost of legal fees which can be substantial. In essence this is similar to being fined which is totally unacceptable.”

inshore ireland October/November 2013 11

Fisheries

Communityled strategy is launched for west coast

A

Michael Keatinge and Seamus Breachnach, BIM; Padraig Ó Ceidigh, and Jason Whooley, BIM with FLAG West members

Seaweed – the winter superfood Sarah O’Sullivan, Seahorse Atlantic Ltd

M

acroalgae or seaweeds are now commonly referred to as the new ‘superfood’. This is due to increasing scientific and clinical studies on the health promoting properties of different species. From providing a daily dose of vitamins, minerals and trace elements ― almost 10 times the amount available in meat or milk ― seaweed has many unique properties that make them an ideal all round natural supplement for the approaching winter months.

Nowadays we are becoming more aware of everything we put into our bodies and are moving back to a natural approach of treating and preventing disease. The era of seaweed is upon us when we look to marine ingredients and realise the amazing properties they can offer naturally.

It is well documented that the consumption of products

such as fruit and vegetables that are high in antioxidants promotes cellular healing; however some species of marine macro algae are in fact five times higher in percentage dry weight than land vegetables.

The specific chemicals are called polyphenols, which are widely used in functional foods and as supplements.

The bio-availability of these compounds, some of which are unique to certain species of seaweeds, make seaweed ideal for an allnatural healthy supplements.

Specific compounds such as phlorotannins are perceived as anti-inflammatory (Shin et al. 2006) whilst fucoidan has been documented as anticancerous (Aisa et al. 2005).

Digestive – probiotics

Seaweeds are rich in polysaccharides or complex carbohydrates which are not digested by intestinal enzymes so provide an ideal source of dietary fibres. It is these unique fibres that act as the prebiotic compounds in the intestine, differing chemically and physio-chemically from that of terrestrial land plants.

Successful feeding trials in pigs showed the prebiotic effect of feeding pigs with two seaweed extracts, Laminaran and Fucoidan on intestinal health (Lynch et al. 2010).

Results yielded an increase in the bacteria Lactobacilli sp, thus suggesting seaweed compounds can improve gut health.

Immune Response

Irish moss or carrageen has been a household name for colds and flus since the 1800s.

Research documents the species to contain anti-viral properties. Recent respiratory research conducted a random, double-blind, placebocontrolled exploratory trial with humans suffering from early symptoms of the common cold (Eccles et al.

2010). The trial used a saline solution with carrageenan compounds in a nasal spray and showed promising effects for the seaweed extracts as an anti-viral agent.

Similarly, another seaweed extract, Fucoidan, was studied in a double blind placebocontrolled study on immune response in elderly Japanese men and women. The study consisted of supplementing the 70 individuals with Fucoidan and monitoring the immune response to the seasonal flu vaccination.

The results indicated a positive response in the immunomodulatory system Fucoidan supplemented group.

Perhaps, with ever changing temperatures and suitable breathing grounds for viruses and bacteria to grow, we should all be consuming seaweed to build a protective barrier for our immune systems and perhaps lengthening our life span to become more like the Japanese nation.

development strategy for the Fishery Local Action Group West (FLAG West) was recently launched in Clarinbridge Co Galway by BIM board member, Padraig Ó Ceidigh.

“I am delighted to launch the West FLAG strategy. The FLAG is steered by a capable committee who have developed a community-led strategy that caters for the needs and aspirations of the local people,” remarked Padraig Ó Ceidigh.

He added it was “vitally important” that the project approvals and the €125,000 funding being announced by FLAG West “are driven by a spirit of partnership and a real understanding “ of what a coastal community is about.

“Today’s range of project approvals will give direct benefit to individuals and companies who in turn will offer enhanced and expanded seafood services and marine events to a community that has worked hard to bring the strategy to this stage,” he added.

Income generator Covering the coastal communities of Galway and Clare, FLAG West’s strategy was launched under Axis Four of the European Fisheries Fund. This initiative enables fisheries communities to create new and sustainable sources of income and improve their quality of life.

The FLAG’s first order of business was to announce two tranches of project approvals, involving 17 projects with a total investment of €125,000 with grant-aid of €53,000 for projects in Inis Boffin; Inis Oirr; Cleggan; Killary; Carna; Cillchiaráin; Kinvara; Doonbeg and Carrigaholt.

The projects vary from start-up artisan seafood producers; support for local traditional sailing festivals; up-skilling of fishermen; developing new methods of native oyster spat production; website design for seafood producers; harbour enhancement and ice making facilities for an island Co Operative.

FLAG-West is one of six Irish FLAGs launched under the Axis Four Fisheries Fund programme. Each FLAG comprises a mix of representatives from State organisations and fishing and marine groups.

FLAG-West covers the coast line from Shannon Estuary to the Killary. Each FLAG strategy will act as a roadmap for the Sustainable Development of Fishery Dependent Areas 2013 to 2015 with BIM acting as administrator to the FLAGS.

Membership List for FLAG-West Séamus Breathnach

BIM

Majella Ní Chríocháin

Comhar na nOileáin

Eamon Ó hEanaigh

Údarás na Gaeltachta

Ger Mullarkey

Galway County Council

Michael Fitzsimons

Failte Ireland

Eithne Nic Dhonnachadha

Galway Roscommon ETB

Ger Concannon

Clare Lobstermen’s Association

Patrick Mullins

Galway Bay Inshore Fishermen’s Association

Michael O’Malley

Cleggan Community/ Aquaculture

Alan O’Sullivan

Comharchumann Sliogeisc Chonmara

Paddy Crowe

Comhar Chaomhán

Gerry O’Halloran

Ocean West

Simon Murray

Inis Boffin Community Development

Padraic De Bhaldraithe

Irish Whale and Dolphin Group

Sean Griffin

Galway and Aran Fisherman’s Co Op

12 inshore ireland October/November 2013

seafood business

“We are open for business” seafood chief tells global Cork economic forum

A

gainst a background of challenging global and domestic market conditions in the last three years, Ireland’s seafood sector achieved 38% growth in exports and is now attracting increased investor interest, delegates attending the Global Cork Economic Forum last month were told.

“The reality is that the Irish seafood industry can and will continue to perform,” remarked Jason Whooley, BIM chief executive: “In 2010/11 Irish seafood exports grew by 13%; by 2011/12 that figure had grown to 20% and 2013 is set to deliver a further increase to an industry which last year alone generated seafood sales in excess of €845 million.”

He added that these figures confirmed that the industry was “well on track to hit its 2013-2017 objectives of creating 1,200 jobs and generating seafood sales of over € 1 billion.”

Strategic partnerships

But he noted that the reality also highlighted that these targets were dependent on BIM and the industry “accelerating increased investment in the sector.

BIM, in partnership with industry, has been advocating strategic partnerships which the Agency is confident it can deliver through its new corporate strategy Capturing Ireland’s Share of the Global Seafood Opportunity,” he said.

“We only have to look to the success that a number of Irish seafood companies have secured through the type of new joint venture partnerships now very much central to BIM’s strategic thinking. Such joint ventures were significant contributors to the increase in Irish seafood exports to China which increased in 2012 alone by a staggering 80%.”

While the roll-out of these strategic investor partnerships is still in its early stages, Forum delegates heard how initial investor soundings were decidedly encouraging for the industry.

“Serious investment opportunities are arising as a result of the opportunities being presented by the deepsea organic salmon farm proposed for Galway Bay for which BIM has applied to become a licensed developer,” Jason Whooley added.

Investor interest

“With the potential to create upwards of 500 jobs and inject €14.5 million into the local economy, the proposed farm is attracting major attention from potential investors with up to 21 financiers, spanning three continents, having already confirmed their interest in the €60 million investment.

“The need and opportunity for investment in the Irish seafood industry is clear. Galway is only one case in point; we are also examining a similar site off the Mayo coast.”

He added that BIM and the industry were seeking investors with whom they can work to grow a “thriving seafood industry.

“Our message to investors

Seafood Business: clearly defining product for the retail consumer or trade buyer Bridgette Brew Business Mentor

D

efining exactly what product you are selling has to go through a systematic process which forms the basis of the company’s ‘product manager’ role.

Product marketing in a business addresses four important strategic questions: What products will be offered i.e., the breadth and depth of your product line?

Who will be the target customers?

How will the products reach those (i.e., the distribution channel - which differ greatly depending on whether your product is to go straight to the retail consumer – via the retailer channel or via an agent if it is a volume-based bulk product)

At what price should the products be offered? Retail or trade – what will each of these markets accept as the right price? Are you competitive at this price, is it sustainable, profitable?

To inform these decisions, product marketing managers act as the ‘voice of the customer’ - to the rest of the production team. This includes gaining a deep understanding of - and driving - customer engagement with the product, throughout the customer’s lifecycle.

The product manager collects customer information through customer surveys and interviews, and when available, product-usage data. This frequently informs the future product roadmap, as well as driving customer product education to ensure improved sales and positive acceptance of the product

by the buyer.

Product management answer these questions and executes on the strategy using the following tools and methods: Customer insights: interviews, surveys, focus groups, customer observation Data analysis: product marketing managers are highly quantitative – sales, returns, discounted stock, and competitor activity Product validation: often using marketing as a channel to test and validate, taste the product before serious resources are committed to develop the product for commercial viability.

Market testing: optimal prices and marketing touch points are developed through market testing of packaging, branding, prices, product options, visuals, and more

is clear: We are ready and open for business. We are a high potential, high return business. Let’s capitalise on the undoubted market

opportunities together as we maximise Ireland’s ability to perform as a major global seafood player.”

Food Academy Start to educate small food businesses

3

50 Irish small food businesses are set to benefit from Food Academy Start, a new training programme launched

by Bord Bia aimed at supporting and nurturing startup food businesses.

Bord Bia, SuperValu and the County Enterprise Boards have joined forces to provide food marketing knowledge to new and early-stage food business owners. For the first time, food start-ups regardless of their location will have access to a standardised programme of supports throughout the country.

The programme will be delivered through workshop-style training supported by SuperValu in the context of retail expertise and providing a route-to-market, designed to guide companies from start-up to their first retail listing.

Speaking at the launch today the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney TD commented “Food Academy Start is a unique opportunity for ambitious food entrepreneurs looking to build sustainable businesses. Small food businesses play an important part in Ireland’s agri-food sector by enhancing our reputation for dynamic, sustainable, and quality food, as well as providing employment and revenues of €475 million per annum,” remarked Simon Coveney, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Vincent Reynolds, CEB; Martin Kelleher, Supervalu; Minister Simon Coveney and Aidan Cotter, Bord Bia.

inshore ireland October/November 2013 13

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S

EASCAPES brings listeners to the maritime programme on RTE Radio 1 a feast of listening pleasure over the coming months.

On Friday 29 November we’ll be talking to shipwright, mariner and maritime archaeologist Pat Tanner, about recording Ireland’s maritime heritage using new technology. Pat is the owner of An Faoileain and is pursuing a Phd at Southampton University.

Friday 6 December we’ll be featuring the long-awaited and recently published Irish Shipping Ltd – A Fleet History and talking to the authors, and also hearing about the Rosslare Harbour Maritime Heritage Museum.

The programme on Friday 13December will feature RNLI Photographer Nigel Millard and his recently published book and we’ll be talking to two members of the Dublin Dock Workers Preservation Society –about the society ‘s work and Heritage.

Finally, on Friday 20 December we’ll have many of our regular features and we’ll hear from Robert Dunne about his great aunt’s survival aboard The Swan sailing out of Glasgow in 1921 with The Southern Syncopated Orchestra bound for Dublin.

In other words: ‘WATER: we write about it’!

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14 inshore ireland October/November 2013

aquaculture news

»» from page 1

The email (20/06/11) refers to the unpublished findings by a team of scientists from Inland Fisheries Ireland and the Marine Institute.

Emphasising that the ‘scientific paper’ in question ‘is in fact an unpublished manuscript which has not yet been accepted for publication in the form submitted’, DAFM draws attention to the fact that: ‘The report of the Referees in respect of the draft manuscript is quite forthright and contains serious criticisms of the text particularly in relation to the analyses and conclusions. You will also note the Marine Institute’s comments regarding the text and also the use made of the document in the context of this policy area’. […] ‘it would seem

clear that the formal observations supplied by your department on this matter are seriously in error’.

It continues: ‘In the circumstances, transmission of your Department’s observations to the Commission would not only be misleading but would also cause confusion in the public mind regarding sea lice controls and possibly undermine this State’s regulatory system.’

Civil-servant tensions

Further evidence of inter-departmental tensions emerges in a written communication (17/06/11) from the Marine Institute referring to the same manuscript, which notes: ‘The editor of the ICES Journal of Marine Science decided not to accept an earlier version of

the unpublished manuscript.’

It continues: ‘The MI have serious reservations about the unpublished manuscript itself (based on the three referees’ criticisms) and on the way it has been circulated and referenced in its current format…. Three international referees have made significant criticisms about the unpublished manuscript, particularly in relation to the analyses and the conclusions.’

The Marine Institute adds that ‘It is not appropriate to circulate/quote and/or use an unpublished manuscript undergoing a scientific peer review process, particularly when it is used in a dialogue on a sensitive policy area’.

It concludes that ‘In order to protect the scientific reputation of the MI, […] the MI will withdraw forthwith from the unpublished manuscript’.

FIE responds

Invited to comment, Tony Lowes of the FIE denied there had been any intention by his organisation to mislead the public by selectively quoting from the DAFM email (which appears on the FIE’s own website) or deliberately withholding both the referee’s report and the MI’s reservations, from its website.

Speaking to Inshore Ireland he said the scientific paper was eventually published in 2012 and “the facts in it fully demolish the position the Marine Institute is taking, and you can quote me because that is the fact.

“You can go back through these peer-reviewed comments, and you can pick out bits and I can pick out bits but the fact is that the paper was published and it does show these mortality rates. To suggest in any way

that we misrepresented things here is incorrect. It really is seriously incorrect.”

He added that “great play” was made in Brussels of the fact that the IFI paper was not peer reviewed. “It’s obvious we can’t present every single document we have discovered,” he told Inshore Ireland.

“You are going up a real blind alley here because the IFI’s paper was in fact published in 2012 and is referred to by one of the referees as “the largest and most auspicious trials of its kind and the largest in the case of Ireland and the most compelling evidence to date for a significant protective effect in smolts treated with emamectin benzoate.”

Agency response

Invited to respond, Donal Maguire, Aquaculture

inshore ireland October/November 2013 15

aquaculture news

Dear Editor

I

t was with interest I read the article by Gery Flynn in the latest issue of Inshore Ireland ‘Scientists at odds over how to interpret results’. In his article, Mr Flynn notes the key points from the Marine Institute study that has recently been criticised by a team of international scientists.

Unfortunately, these relate to a completely different study. They refer to a paper published by the Marine Institute which compared water quality to salmon river status. Meanwhile, the research team critiqued the series of papers where the Marine Institute compared survival rates of untreated and treated smolts during marine migrations to determine the impact of sea lice. The only commonalities between the two papers are they were both published by the Marine Institute and both caused controversy in the international research community.

What is more, Mr Flynn states the Marine Institute stands over the work of its scientists.

This came from a statement by the Marine Institute in response to the water quality and salmon river article, not the article which was recently criticised by the international team in the Journal of Fish Diseases. Indeed, in their response to this critique the Marine Institute have said no such thing, instead only noting that they will ‘consider this paper…. and if appropriate will issue a response through a peer-reviewed scientific process’. Indeed, that lack of statement saying they stand by their scientists research could be seen as a statement in itself.

We do appreciate your desire for balanced coverage of this very contentious and complex subject, and appreciate that confusion may arise at times. We would grateful if you could correct this article.

Yours sincerely, Alec O’Donovan Secretary, Save Bantry Bay

Inshore Ireland responds Mr O’Donovan’s letter refers to two scientific papers: The first, by the University of Toronto (Krkošek et al); the second by the Marine Institute (Jackson et al).

My article refers to both, separately.

Krkošek et al:

I quote Dr Martin Krkošek of the University of Toronto’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology alleging ‘that scientific papers published by the Marine Institute in 2011 and 2013 incorrectly lead the reader to a conclusion that that sea lice play a minor, perhaps even negligible, role in salmon survival’ .

I then quote further from this scientific paper, up to the first page-break sub headline in column one.

Jackson et al:

Development Manager at BIM “accused” Friends of the Irish Environment of “deliberately selecting material to suit their cause”.

“Inshore Ireland should be congratulated for not simply taking the selective quotation as supplied to them

by FIE but followed this up to look at the entire track of the correspondence.”

He added it could be seen from reading the whole memo that rather than suppressing anything, “The DAFM was in fact saving the blushes of the DCENR because the material that it had been supplied was erroneous and sub-standard.

“In fact, the DAFM was not suppressing anything; they were doing their job as good civil servants should and saving Ireland from looking foolish in the eyes of the EU Environmental Directorate.”

Maguire added it was heartening to see that this has been done by Inshore Ireland when other “more august publications have fallen down on the job”.

“Those journalists selfevidently failed to thoroughly investigate the facts and in so doing, published material that was misleading to the public.

“The approach by FIE is typical of their modus operandi which is to selectively take bits of unrelated information, join them together and then attempt to create a sensational story.

“This is most unfortunate because it leads to confusion in the public mind. It serves nobody, and it’s certainly of no help to the environment.

It is yet another example of poor behaviour, deliberately designed to muddy the waters.”

Beneath the page-break sub headline, column one ‘Recent evaluation by the Marine Institute’ I refer to ‘the latest scientific paper from the Marine Institute’.

A pdf copy of this scientific paper * was emailed to me by the Marine Institute on July 1.

The covering email referred to the paper as ‘our latest publication’.

In my article I wrote that ‘the latest scientific paper from the Marine Institute backs up its previous findings and concludes that wild salmon stocks are not affected by the presence of salmon farms: that escaped farm fish have little influence on wild spawning stocks and that sea lice play only a minor role in sea mortality.’

I interpreted the paper as finding the ‘key driver in the survival of individual salmon stocks is more likely to be a deterioration of the freshwater habitat’.

Beneath the page-break sub headline, ‘Key points from the study’, I quote eight points from the paper.

I would draw Mr O’Donovan’s attention to these points – numbers four, five and six in particular.

Finally, in view of the potentially very serious inference by Mr O’Donovan ‘of the lack of statement saying they [Marine Institute] stand by their scientists research’, I offered the Marine Institute an opportunity to respond.

Statement to Inshore Ireland October 30, 2013

The Marine Institute paper (Impact of Lepeophtheirus salmonis infestations on migrating Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., smolts at eight locations in Ireland with an analysis of lice-induced marine mortality) presents an analysis of a long-term dataset from eight locations along Ireland’s west and south coast to determine the impact of sea lice on migrating salmon.

It concludes that while sea lice-induced mortality on outwardly migrating salmon smolts can be significant, it is a minor and irregular component of marine mortality in the stocks studied and is unlikely to be a significant factor influencing conservation status of salmon stocks. The paper was published after peer review in ‘The Journal of Fish Diseases’ January 2013. Another long-term Norwegian study (by Skilbrei et al), published in the same Journal in January 2013, presents similar conclusions.

The Marine Institute paper was criticised in a subsequent paper published in the ‘Journal of Fish Diseases’.

In the time-honoured practice for such matters the authors of the Marine Institute paper will respond, in the first instance, in the scientific literature.

The Marine Institute provides solid evidence-based expert advice. We would like to reiterate that we stand over all peer-reviewed research published by our staff.’

Gery Flynn Features Editor Inshore Ireland *’Evaluation of the impacts of aquaculture and freshwater habitat on the status of Atlantic salmon stocks in Ireland’ Vol. 4, No. 6A, 62-67 (2013) Agricultural Sciences’

16 inshore ireland October/November 2013

aquaculture news

Macroalgae cultivation, biorefinery and application: Current status and future directions

Simon Faulkner and Stefan Kraan, OHT

M

acroalgae represent a relativity underutilised, sustainable resource and are an exceptional source of diverse compounds for use in cosmetics, pharmaceutical, food, feed, fertiliser and biofuelbased applications.

Recently, algae experts and enthusiasts met to discuss the latest developments and future of macroalgae at two international conferences.

The first of these took place in Den Helder/Texel, The Netherlands in September, entitled Seagriculture, Exploring the Seaweed Chain.

As the title suggests, this event focused on materials, cultivation and harvesting, waste streams, market chain development and the seaweed biorefinery.

With almost 90% of today’s energy usage derived from the consumption of fossil fuels, renewable energy sources are highly sought after. Despite this, less than 10% of the world’s energy is derived from renewable sources (such as seaweed) and it falls well short of the target set by the EU of 20% by 2020.

Biofuel challenges

During the conference, the challenges of producing biofuel were highlighted by Jaap van Hal, from the Energy Centre of the Netherlands.

These challenges include the stable chemical composition of seaweeds, which renders them particularly difficult to fractionate when compared to land-based biomass.

A further challenge described by Jaap is the seasonal, geographical and species-dependent variation in the chemical composition of seaweed. This variation in the protein, carbohydrate and the ash content of seaweed

is further complicated by the fact that seaweed can contain up to 90% water which contributes to both transport and drying costs.

The conference nevertheless highlighted a number of facts that make seaweed an excellent choice for biofuel production. For instance, the production of biofuel from seaweed does not require land or freshwater, and therefore does not compete with food crops for these resources.

In addition, the available area for seaweed cultivation is much greater than on land as around 70% of the earth’s surface is covered with water.

Furthermore, seaweed-based biofuels are produced without the need for fertilisers and pesticides which are associated with many land plants.

The potential profitability and overall feasibility of biofuel production from seaweed was also discussed by experts including Sander van den Burg, researcher at Wageningen University and Machiel van Steenis, Senior Project Manager at Energy Valley.

Adequate fractionation

The importance of adequate fractionation of macroalgae into both low and high-value product streams in order to maximise profitability was highlighted. For example, high-value products such as cosmetics can be extracted from the seaweed, while leaving behind a large amount of biomass that can be used to produce lower value products such as food/ feed, and ultimately, biofuel.

Ireland was represented at the Seagriculture conference

by Dr Stefan Kraan, Cofounder of Oceanfuel Ltd Galway, who again stressed the importance of adequate fractionation and separation of seaweedderived compounds.

In addition to producing ethanol from seaweed on a pilot scale, Oceanfuel

is also developing upscalable methods to extract fibre, oil, ash and protein from macroalgae.

Experts had another chance to discuss the past, present and future of algae at the 3rd Danish Algae Conference in Grenaa, Denmark in October. This conference also included a tour of AlgeCenter Denmark´s research and development plant, where scientists are currently using specialised tanks to investigate how parameters can affect seaweed growth and composition.

An Oceanfuel diver at sea

Latest developments

The conference began with presentations from the Danish Shellfish Centre; Hortimare (Holland); SIOEN Industries (Belgium) and Ocean Rainforest (Faroe Islands) and went on to outline the latest developments in seaweed cultivation, integrated aquaculture, seaweed harvesting and seaweed processing.

Following a similar theme to the Seagriculture conference, the topics discussed throughout this event also included biofuel production from algae; the location and season-dependent variation in seaweed composition and methods to extract various compounds from micro and macro-algae, including beneficial Omega-3 fatty acids.

The latest developments in the utilisation of both macro and micro-algae in Iceland were outlined by Dr Hörður G. Kristinsson and Hrönn Arnardóttir from Marinox and the Blue Lagoon respectively.

Like Marinox, the German company OceanBASIS also described the use of bioactive compounds that are currently extracted from brown seaweed and included in cosmetic products to provide a number of benefits, including an anti-aging effect.

Ireland was represented in Grenaa by Dr Prannie Rhatigan, a medical doctor and lifelong seaweed cook from Co. Sligo, who provided a fascinating presentation on the use of seaweed in different food recipes for healthy living. During her presentation Prannie outlined how it is possible to make healthy and tasty food using seaweed with a number of associated health benefits.

The information presented at both conferences shows that macroalgae is indeed

The brown seaweed, Saccharina latissima

Cultivation tank at AlgeCenter, Denmark an exceptional source of diverse compounds that can be used for a wide range of applications ranging from cosmetics to fertiliser to food. It is also apparent that,

despite some challenges, sustainable seaweed cultivation may help reach the EU target for renewable energy sources by 2020.

inshore ireland October/November 2013 17

Marine R&D

LEFT: Participants at the ‘A Place to Live’ stakeholder consultation at Ballymaloe House Hotel in November ABOVE: Participants of the ‘Citizen Youth’ consultation held in the Science Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin in May

Sea for Society consultations deemed a great success

Niamh Dornan

T

he last of four consultation meetings to gather the views of Irish citizens and stakeholders on a wide variety of issues about the sustainable development of our seas took place at the end of October, as part of the Europe-wide Sea for Society Project.

This ambitious and farreaching public consultation and mobilisation venture, which comprises twenty partners in a dozen European countries, has the goal of influencing public thinking towards a Blue Society in which humankind lives in sustainable harmony with the sea.

Irish partners in the project include AquaTT (as project area leaders), NUI Galway and the Marine Institute.

Across Europe, research organisations; government bodies; education and information establishments (including public aquaria, museums, communications experts and tourist attractions) are involved.

Scientific knowledge review

The project, which is funded under the European 7th Framework Programme, commenced in early 2012 with a review of current

scientific knowledge on six areas of marine science: marine food; transport; energy; health; leisure and tourism, and the sea as ‘A Place to Live’.

The project also compiled a list of all marine public consultation processes that had taken place to date worldwide. A detailed two-day training workshop in Dublin on an innovative method of public consultation known as ‘Collective Intelligence’ was facilitated by experts from NUI Galway.

This process allows participants to generate ideas regarding barriers to sustainable development in a freely flowing creative environment and then, once those ideas are generated and clearly understood, to organise and develop them logically to find solutions to those barriers. The Creative Intelligence method has already been used internationally with great success, not only to solve a variety of societal problems, but also in a number of complex and difficult conflict situations.

people in order to identify barriers to sustainable development.

Those categories were young people from the general public between 18-25 years old, and stakeholders who were actively involved with the sea, either directly or indirectly.

In Ireland, the one-day ‘Citizen Youth’ consultations were held in the Salthill Hotel Galway and in the Science Gallery in Dublin early this summer while the more detailed ‘stakeholder’ consultations were both held in the welcoming surroundings of the Ballymaloe House Hotel in October and November.

Ireland was allocated the two topics: Marine Food and A Place to Live for discussion and debate. These events took place over two days in each case, generating not only a range of barriers to sustainable development of our marine resources but also a broad selection of solutions reflecting the expertise and experience of the participants.

Collective intelligence

The outcome of these consultations, along with those from all the other European partner countries, will now be collected and analysed by the NUI Galway experts in a three-day analysis meeting to take

Following the training, each member country was allocated two of the six areas of marine science listed above, and asked to apply the Collective Intelligence process to two categories of

Barriers & solutions

place later this month.

The results will then represent an incredibly valuable resource ― the combined European wisdom on barriers and solutions for all six topic areas ― which can then be used to pinpoint practical mobilisation initiatives that can be carried out on a European scale to create a ‘Blue Society’ for the future.

The information can also be used to guide policy-makers in Brussels and at national level in each member country towards enlightened legislation; to create information and outreach programmes for the general public, or to create material for national schools curricula, which could lead towards a more sustainable relationship with our seas.

AquaTT would like to thank all the participants in the Citizen/Youth and Stakeholder consultation meetings who gave so freely of their time and ideas.

Further details of the Sea for Society Project including national blogs for each country - can be viewed on www. seaforsociety.eu.

18 inshore ireland October/November 2013

Marine R&D

Enhancing the shipbuilding ancillary industry

by Ciarán McCarthy

A

uxnavalia Plus is a collaborative project between five countries on the western coast of Europe (France, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and the U.K.), co-funded

by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) INTEREG Atlantic Area fund. The focus of the project is to enhance the innovation capacity of the shipbuilding ancillary industry and aims to do this through its four main objectives.

As market forces continue to change and Southeast Asian countries such as China, The Republic of Korea and Japan increase their market share and lead the way in the development of the most innovative technologies, it becomes increasingly difficult for European countries such as France, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and the UK to remain at the pinnacle of the shipbuilding industry.

Therefore it has become a necessity that the European shipyards engage in R&D projects to ensure they can remain competitive in the global market. This engagement will additionally help Europe to overcome the environmental challenges of the region as it will help the region to profit from the business opportunities involved in the sector, for example in safety and marine renewable energy.

Examples of the potential of such R&D projects were seen at the recent AuxNavalia

Plus conference held in Saint Nazaire in France (October 16-17). HydrOcean was one of a number of projects that gave an overview of their R&D work and how this has / is contributing to commercial ventures.

HydrOcean offers design support in the maritime field, by using innovative numerical simulation tools capable of accurately simulating the most simple to the most complex of hydrodynamic phenomena.

Their services allow clients to save time at the design stage; decrease their research costs; improve the performance of their products and reduce design risks.

Just one of their innovative computer programme tools is able to evaluate 100 ship hulls in just two weeks. This programme has led to an average resistance gain of 10% - 20% being obtained in their hull optimisation studies which once again leads to more work for shipyards when the physical modifications that are carried out.

Perhaps the most unique aspect of the project is the requirement stating that all the results must be tangible and sustainable in nature to guarantee they are useful in nature for at least the immediate 10 years after the project concludes in 2014.

The Halpin Centre is contributing to the creation of a collaboration plan for the sector and the development of nine separate case studies of companies that will introduce business models which have been developed by the European partners of the project.

It is also assisting in the construction of an innovation and technology information service and an innovation agenda that will be designed on the basis of assisting with the growth of the sector over the course of the next decade.

Ciarán McCarthy is managing the Halpin Centre’s work in the Auxnavalia Plus project. Up to date information on the project can be found at www.auxnavaliaplus.org

inshore ireland October/November 2013 19

Marine R&D

Exploring the true impact of European counterterrorism Delivering international policy Commander Dave Barry, Michael Delaney and Randy Billard joined by Halpin Centre Staff at NMCI

agreement for Arctic sea training

Compiled by Cormac McGarry

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he National Maritime College of Ireland is to become a global leader in training smallcraft mariners who work in extremely challenging Arctic conditions. A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the NMCI Acting Head of College, Michael Delaney and Randy Billard CTO of Virtual Marine Technology, which represents yet another progression in simulation R&D to ensure that both NMCI and VMT remain at the leading edge.

VMT, based in Canada, develop small craft simulators for the

offshore and defence industries and specialise in harsh environmental conditions simulation.

VMT’s simulators are internationally certified for small craft training and incorporate advanced ice models that have been rigorously tested by ice experts from the St John’s Ocean Technology Cluster.

“We are privileged to have been selected to bring our expertise in ice simulation to such a prestigious maritime development team,” reamarked Randy Billard, CTO for VMT. “We believe that Northern Europe, with its similar operational environment, can benefit from the advanced training technologies we have developed in Newfoundland

and Labrador.”

NMCI Acting Head of College Michael Delaney said: “We are delighted to be working with VMT in the development of new and innovative simulation technologies the use of which continues to place the NMCI at the cutting edge as regards the use of simulation as an education and training tool.”

This progress is down to The Small Craft Emergency Response and Survival Training for Arctic Conditions (SMACS) Project. SMACS, which featured in the last Issue of Inshore Ireland, addresses an urgent need for safety and emergency response training for mariners in Arctic seas.

While regulated training is widely available for large vessel crews, this is not the situation for small craft mariners who find it generally difficult to access Arctic-specific training.

Uptake of this training programme will make the Arctic a safer location for small craft maritime activity.

The simulation will be used as a training tool. The SMACs project will work with VMT to validate the fidelity and performance of a lifeboat and ice environments simulator prototype being developed by VMT. The Halpin Centre at NMCI will also jointly develop, a simulation based training curriculum for operators in emergency evacuation and rescue scenarios with VMT. Both the Halpin Centre at NMCI and VMT will jointly publish the results of research undertaken using this simulation technology.

S

ECILE (Securing Europe Through CounterTerrorism: Impact, Legitimacy, and Effectiveness) is a part-EU funded project of assembled European human rights and legal research experts tasked with exploring the true impact of European counter-terrorism policy since 2001.

In the first European project of its kind, the project team are looking to assess and understand the extent to which various actors have been impacted by counter-terrorism legislation in Europe – from the citizen, to the legislator, to the security services, and the domestic courts.

Fiona de Londras from Durham University, who are coordinating the project, outlines the need for such research on the project website: “For everyone who lives in the EU, these measures matter. They are being applied to us and around us by the member states of the EU, by companies, banks, police forces, military, private military companies and so on.

“This means that these measures have important implications for us as citizens, for companies and private actors, for police forces and the military, for law makers and for courts. But what are those implications? And how can we measure them?”

SECILE will look at how people experience these measures, and combine this work with insights from a range of disciplines, to come up with workable and appropriate definitions of effectiveness, legitimacy and impact in the counter-terrorist context. The intention is that these definitions can be applied when reviewing existing counter-terrorism measures and when we are introducing new measures.

Professor de Londras continues: “Overall, by understanding how we measure effectiveness and impact, and by committing to introducing only legitimate counterterrorist measures, we can try to make sure that the EU’s approach to counter-terrorism is appropriate, proportionate, adequate and just.”

Managing the Halpin Centre’s role in SECILE is Lieutenant Commander Erika Downing who recently stood down as Officer Commanding Irish Naval vessel L.É. AOIFE. Joined by the Halpin Centre and Erika is another Irish partner, The Centre for Irish and European Security (CIES).

It is interesting to see multiple Irish partners play a big role in such a wide-reaching European project. Dermot Ahern, who held multiple government ministries including Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, neatly summarises the project from the Irish perspective on its website (http://secile.eu/): ‘Legislators tended, on occasion, to be reactionary: legislation could be brought in without a proper strategic EU-wide examination of our actions… The bigger the EU became, the less coordinated the Member States became… Not only will SECILE look at vitally important issues to the general public, but it will also assess the effectiveness, necessity and proportionately of rushed legislation.There has been no great review of the implications of these EU-wide changes – until now.’

20 inshore ireland October/November 2013

Marine R&D

Marine Institute’s free tide prediction system live in Ireland Cushla DromgoolRegan

T

he Irish National Tide Gauge Network monitoring service has been updated to provide a free tide prediction service for 31 locations around the coast and is now available on www.irishtides.ie/ predict.

The network continuously records tidal height measurements and predicts tides up to two years ahead on a rolling basis.

Although already operational, when completed it will be the first coordinated and managed network of its kind in Ireland. Tidal information was previously obtained from various high quality, smaller-scale local efforts, augmented by the UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) and the Proudman Oceanographic Data Centre working with some ports.

Coastal-wide monitoring stations

The network is a Marine Institute initiative and its on-going development will be managed by the Institute’s Ocean Science and Information Service’s team. The project, now in its 10th year, will ultimately have between 35-40 monitoring stations around the coast to fully measure the tidal cycle.

The Institute has worked with local organisations such and county councils, who in some cases have contributed to the costs of running the

network in their locality.

Working in partnership with the Marine Institute, Dublin City Council has benefited from using the network which has delivered real-time data to the Dublin Flood Initiative, river estuary users and construction works in the estuaries serving the Dublin City area.

“The project is of great value, giving valuable real-time information in emergency and estuary/ coastal maintenance situations,” remarked Gerard O’Connell, Engineer-inCharge, Regional Projects & Emergency Services Division, Dublin City Council.

The network can also be used by the maritime community as well as the general public, particularly for marine leisure activities such as sailing, diving, and understanding the tides when spending time at the beach, explains Dr Glenn Nolan of the management team.

“We hope it will enhance marine safety and encourage responsible practice in marine activities,” he said.

The Irish National Tide Gauge Network infrastructure is funded by the Marine Institute, local stakeholders and sources that include the Marine RTDI Measure of the National Development Plan 2000-2006, co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Building and running the network has involved OTT Hydrometry Ltd, engineering specialists behind the monitoring stations and in the development of leading edge sensor technology.

Ronan McGlynn from OTT Hydrometry Ltd and Dr Guy Westbrook , Marine Institute, working on the Irish National Tide Gauge Network node at Galway Port.

Glenn Nolan, Joe Silke and Caroline Cusack, Marine Institute.

Irish online service to aquaculture wins top European award Lisa Fitzpatrick

A

SIMUTH, an Irish led EU Framework 7 funded project (FP7), has been awarded the COPERNICUS (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) Masters Prize for best earth-monitoring service for European citizens 2013. The pan-European project developed an online alert system (HAB Forecast) to provide an early warning to the aquaculture industry of imminent harmful algal blooms (red tides).

ASIMUTH is led by the Daithi O’Murchu Marine Research Station, (DOMMRS) in Bantry and involves scientists and SMEs from five European Atlantic States (Ireland, Scotland, France, Spain and Portugal).

Project partners include the Marine Institute and Irish SME Numerics Warehouse Ltd, Galway, as well as international MeteoGroup Offshore which has an office

in Ennis, Co. Clare.

According to the project co-ordinator, Dr Julie Maguire (DOMMRS), “The new service gives producers time to adapt their culture and harvesting practices before a bloom arrives in their area, reducing potential losses which can have a devastating impact on aquaculture businesses.”

Algal bloom impacts In Ireland, closures due to harmful algal blooms of shellfish growing areas of up to 10 months have been experienced. Other impacts such as loss of farmed fish and widespread mortalities of wild fish and benthic organisms were also experienced during red tide blooms in 2005 and 2012.

“This is the first forecast system of its kind and was designed to combine information from monitoring stations, satellite data, biological and physical oceanic models to produce regular forecasting reports to the shellfish industry,” remarked Joe Silke, Head of

Shellfish Safety at the Marine Institute.

“Working with neighbouring countries gives us a better chance of early detection of these blooms, and interregional water currents can be modelled to estimate the potential impact of these blooms in advance of their arrival at aquaculture areas,” he explained.

The ASIMUTH project Applied Simulations and Integrated Modelling for the Understanding of Toxic and Harmful Algal Blooms is co-funded under the 7th EU Framework 7 Programme for Research and Technological Development (2007-2013).

The Best Service Challenge is one of nine categories in the European Earth monitoring competition (COPERNICUS Masters) and aims to increase awareness of existing Earth monitoring services and their benefits to European citizens.

As winner of the Best Service Challenge 2013, HAB Forecast will benefit from a substantial satellite data quota worth €40,000 made available with financial support by the European Commission.

The HAB Forecast bulletin is available on the ASIMUTH website www.asimuth.eu

inshore ireland October/November 2013 21

Marine R&D

Marine ICT for local businesses outlined at SmartOcean Forum Lisa Fitzpatrick

T

he recent SmartOcean Forum at the Titanic Centre, Belfast established Northern Ireland and Ireland as leaders in the development of ICT products and services for global marine sectors.

The Invest Northern Ireland sponsored event focused on developing hightech products and services for traditional sectors such as fisheries, aquaculture, transport and security, and emerging sectors such as renewable ocean energy, environmental monitoring and ocean observation.

The Forum also outlined emerging markets, policy and opportunities for innovation associated with the launch of Horizon 2020 next year (the EU’s new research and innovation programme) and focussed on the challenges for SMEs to drive innovation in an emerging marine technology sector.

Initiatives and investment

The event also explored initiatives and investment for capacity build to develop a Marine ICT sector here that can derive economic benefits from our ocean. Opportunities are emerging through local and international initiatives and we need to be in a position to work with Atlantic partners in the sustainable development of our ocean resource.

“Today’s SmartOcean Forum follows our recent Northern Ireland Investment Conference which successfully highlighted to an international business audience the strengths that we have to offer,” remarked Arlene Foster, Northern Ireland Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment.

She added that such programmes built on traditional strengths of engineering excellence and a long history of innovation, and developed new skill sets to meet the needs of the fast changing world of technology and renewable energy, and with it brought real opportunities for economic growth and development.

“My department has been leading on the development of the Northern Ireland Innovation Strategy. Fundamental to this is the concept of open innovation and collaboration.

“The rapid rise of innovation in technology and the emerging opportunities coming from the marine sector offers considerable scope and opportunities for those companies who are willing to finding new innovative ways of working and developing.”

Blue economy potential

Maire Geoghegan Quinn, EU Commissioner for Research & Innovation acknowledged the strong convergences between SmartOcean and Ireland’s plans for ocean-related research and innovation in Horizon 2020.

“By bringing together the

best ICT experts, marine technology providers and marine scientists in Ireland, the SmartOcean cluster has created the right innovation environment to harvest the potential of the blue economy.

Research and innovation are essential to unlock the potential of marine energy and the marine bio-economy and to use deep-sea resources in a sustainable way.”

Greatest natural resource

Opening the forum, Dr Peter Heffernan, CEO Marine Institute, said the ocean territory was our greatest natural resource and that the need to understand and manage it has never been greater.

“We have a huge opportunity to lead the way in marine ICT to support the sustainable development of our ocean resource. And we are steadily working towards the targets set out in our government’s ‘Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth - An Integrated Marine Plan for Ireland’ to ensure that our ocean wealth will be a key component of our economic recovery and sustainable growth, generating social, cultural and economic benefits for all citizens. “ The Forum aims to build on the Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance between the EU, United States and Canada, launched last May. A goal of the Alliance is to develop a transatlantic ocean observation system which will increase our understanding of the oceans and promote ocean innovation through improved access to a broad range of ocean data.

SmartOcean, a Marine Institute led initiative, aims to establish leading edge capacity in the development of specialist ICT products and services for global marine sectors.

For more information visit

Arlene Foster , Northern Ireland Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment with Dr Peter Heffernan, CEO Marine Institute at the SmartOcean Forum at Titanic Belfast.

Photo: William Cherry/Presseye Northern Ireland

www.smartocean.org or contact smartocean@marine.ie or edel.oconnor@marine.ie

Children from St Nicholas Parochial School celebrating Maths Week.

Photo Andrew Downes

Maths Week for budding marine researchers

By Cushla Dromgool-Regan

T

he Explorers Marine Education programme aimed at primary schools recently re-launched in Galway now involves more than forty-five schools.

Celebrating Maths week, workshops were held at Galway Atlantaquaria where primary school students developed maths skills as well as learned about the ocean and Ireland’s seashores.

The 2013-2-14 programme involves a novel idea of salt-water aquariums in the classroom; seashore safaris on local beaches; marinebased projects about species, habitats and environmental care, as well as workshops offered during Maths, Science and Engineering Weeks. On completion students and teachers will be presented with an Explorer Certificate of Participation.

“With over one thousand primary school students now ready to take part in the Explorers programme, they are sure to develop an inspiration and enthusiasm for the marine,” remarked Bernard Kirk, Director of the Galway Education Centre.

“Skills will also be developed through cross-curricular subjects including maths, science, geography, literacy and the arts. The level of interest from teachers is a testament to the programme and we hope it will continue to grow,” he added.

Background The Marine Institute and Galway Atlantaquaria established the Explorers Education Programme over eight years ago with the aim of ensuring that primary school students developed an interest in Ireland’s marine resources early in their education.

“Having a better understanding of our marine environment often begins in the classroom. So, by generating a passion in this area, we can bring social, cultural and economic benefits to our communities,” remarked Dr Noirin Burke, the Explorers Education Officer.

“I’m really looking forward to working with the schools over the next year when the students will learn about our oceans, marine species and Ireland’s marine resource.”

The Explorers programme continues in Clare, Mayo, Dublin and Cork, in association with partners: Galway Atlantaquaria, Blackrock Education Centre, Sea Life Centre Bray and the Lifetime Lab, Cork.

Explorer teaching materials, including a wide maths lesson plans and worksheets are available to download free of charge at www.explorers.ie.

22 inshore ireland October/November 2013

Marine R&D

INIS Hydro project nears completion RIGHT: The bathymetry of the Firth of Lorn shows that the complex lie of the land that characterises the Highlands and Islands of Scotland certainly continues underwater.

Dr Anuschka Miller (SAMS) and André Cocuccio (MCA)

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ver the past three years, a partnership of seven organisations has been generating high-resolution (IHO Order 1A standard) bathymetric survey data of 1,400 km2 of seabed in the Republic of Ireland (Dundalk Bay), Northern Ireland (SE Mourne Coast, Carlingford Lough, Dundrum Bay) and Scotland (Firth of Lorn and Kintyre).

Under the leadership of the UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), the INIS Hydro project has been obtaining seabed depth data, ground-truthed, geocoded backscatter data and seabed sediment data that will be made freely available on the web by the end of March 2014 when the project officially concludes.

The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office is currently validating the INIS Hydro data to update nautical charts and publications in Scottish, Northern Irish and Irish waters, to improve safety for mariners.

Capacity building – a lasting legacy Ireland and the UK have world

leading expertise in bathymetric surveying, and the INIS Hydro project has allowed partners from Scotland and Northern Ireland to benefit from working alongside the experienced teams from the UK Hydrographic Office, the Geological Survey of Ireland and the Marine Institute. Bathymetric surveying is a laborious and slow process and the increase in organisations capable of highresolution surveying will be a key legacy of the INIS Hydro project.

Survey highlights The Scottish Association for Marine Science surveyed over 550km2 of the Firth of Lorn using mostly their coastal research vessel Calanus. The seabed here is very complex with depths down to 260 m. The survey discovered 13 new wrecks, identified pock marks formed by shallow gas and supported the successful search of a tragically sunken fishing vessel.

The survey of the world’s third largest whirlpool area in the Gulf of Corryvreckan - a popular yet dangerous destination for marine adventure and wildlife tourism - found that a suspected central ‘pinnacle’ was instead a steepsided buttress. Visitors to Oban’s new Ocean Explorer Centre can explore the INIS Hydro Firth of Lorn seabed data on a giant touch screen.

Northern Ireland’s Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute surveyed

the seabed of Carlingford Lough, and identified some narrow and deep channels in the otherwise shallow sea lough. The Lough (bordering counties Louth, Down and Armagh) has a number of conservation designations and approximately 23% of its area is utilised for shellfish aquaculture.

The habitat maps arising from this work will be a key tool in informing management decisions.

The GSI utilized their research vessels Keary and Geo and the Marine Institute mobilised the RV CelticVoyager to survey both the inner, shallow sections and the offshore areas of Dundalk Bay, Co Louth. The area was difficult to survey due to its exposed nature and large fetch but proved to be relatively shallow with a central channel running through it.

The strongly tidal Kintyre renewables area was charted by Scotland’s Northern Lighthouse Board vessel NLV Polestar with support from the MCA UK Civil Hydrography Programme contractors, MMT UK. The work has been partfinanced by the European Union’s INTERREG IVA programme that supports cross-border collaborations for a more prosperous and sustainable region. The DOE, NERC, Northern Lighthouse Board and Maritime and Coastguard Agency provided the necessary match-funding.

Closing celebration event

INIS Hydro will showcase and celebrate its mapping achievements and capacity building and explore the future uses of the gathered data at the Titanic Belfast on December 3, 2013. Anyone who would like to attend but has not yet received an invitation should contact Richard.Dean@mcga.gov.uk. For more information visit www.inis-hydro.eu

INIS Hydro bathymetry results of Carlingford Lough will be used to inform coastal management decisions.

INISHydro Hydro INIS

An interesting centralSurvey channelAreas was found to run through Survey Areas shallow Dundalk Bay.

Dundrum Bay, SE Mourne Coast, Carlingford Lough & Approaches - AFBI Dundrum Bay, SE Mourne Coast, Carlingford Lough & Approaches - AFBI Dundalk Bay (Shallow) - GSI Dundalk Bay (Shallow) - GSI Dundalk Bay (Deep) - MI Dundalk Bay (Deep) - MI Firth of Lorn - SAMS Firth of Lorn - SAMS Kintyre Renewables Area - NLB Kintyre Renewables Area - NLB

INIS Hydro survey areas

inshore ireland October/November 2013 23

Marine R&D

White ribbon of seabed around the Irish coast yet to be surveyed by INFOMAR

Surveying the white ribbon The white ribbon

Eoin MacCraith, GSI

W

ith the bulk of Ireland’s deep, offshore waters now mapped in great detail during the course of the Irish National Seabed Survey, the task of surveying the inshore territory has fallen to the INFOMAR programme (Integrated Mapping for the Sustainable Development of Ireland’s Marine Resource) – a joint venture run by the Geological Survey of Ireland and the Marine Institute.

Ireland’s rugged coastline makes for a challenging environment for the fleet of small vessels employed to carry out this duty: RV Keary, M.V. Cosantóir Bradán and RV Geo. These boats are required to venture where other vessels do not – areas of dangerous shoals and shallow rocks, many of which have not been charted in over a hundred years.

These areas to be mapped can be collectively termed as the ‘white ribbon’, ― the blank strip skirting Ireland’s coastline in the image of modern seabed data coverage.

Surveying these areas is not as simple as arriving in a vessel and following a straightforward grid pattern, scanning the seabed with a sonar device.

There are many things to take into consideration when carrying out inshore surveying of a given bay or stretch of coastline.

Firstly, a team must arrive on site in advance of the survey vessel and set up what is known as geodetic control on land. This involves surveying a single point in the ground to a high degree of accuracy, using a GPS device on a tripod.

Once the coordinates are ascertained, a GPS station is set up over it for the duration of the survey; this serves as a control station for the position data collected by the survey vessel, which is vital to accurately position the recorded soundings on the seabed.

Mobilising these base stations is itself a challenge. A secure location is needed, with a clear view of the sky so that the station can receive data from enough satellites. Along with this a reliable power source is required. These criteria narrow down the number of available locations very quickly, especially in rural areas. More often than not, the roof of a Garda station is the most reliable location.

GPS base station

A tide gauge is also required for a survey area and is usually installed on harbour wall, to measure the rise and fall of the tide over the duration of a survey leg, and sometimes longer.

This dataset is required in order to determine the value of Lowest Astronomical Tide (LAT) at a given location. LAT is the lowest level of the tide that can be predicted to occur during average meteorological

conditions or any combination of astronomical conditions.

It is the level to which the mapped seabed is ultimately referenced to in the final charts, using a computer model. Physically measuring the tide at the survey site helps the INFOMAR team to verify this model.

Once the base station and the tide gauge are in place, the survey vessels are cleared to commence operations.

The shape and size of a bay determines the pattern in which the vessels must work.

Ireland’s coastline is a complex set of inlets and irregular margins. As the vessels’ collective task is to map as far inshore as possible, even over intertidal areas, they must dive in and out of these nooks and crannies, abandoning any possibility of straight survey lines as they approach the coast.

This is a hazardous task – many of these areas were last mapped with lead lines over a hundred years ago; uncharted, treacherous shoals often went undetected by this technique. Even with the most sophisticated modern sensors, the survey crews can be caught out by these shallow rocks unless they stay vigilant at all times.

Mapping close to Inish Turk

In addition to navigational challenges, the vessels must contend with a reduction in survey coverage as the water gets shallower. Due to the nature in which the sonar equipment works, its footprint on the seabed shrinks as the vertical distance between it and the seafloor gets shorter.

This means that the vessels must steer with tighter line spacing as they approach the shore. The result is that the mapping effort increases substantially,

RV Geo surveying off Inish Turk

GPS base station on roof of Garda building with a corresponding reduction in the gains.

The smallest vessel, R.V. Geo, must work on the rising tide while entering intertidal areas. To do otherwise would be to risk running aground.

Modern survey equipment is constantly being developed and improved. In 2013, R.V. Keary was equipped with the most state-of-the-art multi beam sonar available, which has increased data

quality and hugely cut down on the subsequent processing workload.

As the technology improves over time, the task of mapping Ireland’s complex coastline will become easier and faster; however, the crew must never overly-rely on this technology for keeping the vessels safe. Keeping their eyes peeled will always be an essential requirement!

24 inshore ireland October/November 2013

Marine R&D

Seabed mapping programme ‘on target’ to deliver marine plan objectives Lisa Fitzpatrick, Marine Institute

A

packed agenda of more than twenty presentations highlighted the main events and developments over the past twelve months of INFOMAR – the Integrated Mapping for the Sustainable Development of Ireland’s Marine Resource – and one of the world’s largest seabed mapping programmes.

Archie Donovan, Geological Survey of Ireland and joint programme manager, told delegates of the “significant progress” being made towards delivering the targets identified in the national integrated marine plan, Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth, as well as supporting ocean energy, marine tourism,

environment, and shipping and trade development and management.

A key focus of the seminar was to bridge the gap between research and industry and to enhance the potential for innovation, research, and business opportunities from the mapping data and activities.

Among the SMEs presenting their innovations were Gavin Duffy (RealSim Ltd) who outlined the company’s mapping and visualisation technology, and Francis Flannery (SonarSim Ltd) who spoke about the benefits of multidisciplinary research collaboration from an SME perspective.

Tommy Furey, Marine Institute and joint project manager outlined the “significant, scalable commercial opportunities” relating to INFOMAR supported technology outputs, linking industry needs to

research applications.

“The programme has already generated industry partnerships, for example, Geomar & Highland Geosolutions, and there are global opportunities for Ireland to deliver marine technology solutions, leveraging the internationally recognised INFOMAR brand,” he said.

A session on Mapping Requirements & Mapping Technologies, included a presentation on the need to map Ireland’s “vast and valuable” seaweed resources by Dagmar Stengel (NUIG). Tim McCarthy, (NUIM) examined the use of unmanned autonomous vehicles in seabed mapping as well as the challenges that brings.

The seminar, hosted by UCC’s Mobile & Marine Robotics Research Centre, included a presentation by the university’s Dr Andy Wheeler

on the Moytirra Vent, a new type of hydrothermal vent, discovered on board the national research RV Celtic Explorer in 2011 by a team of Irish and international scientists.

Also on the programme was an update on shipwreck mapping collaboration between the Underwater Archaeology Unit (DAHG) and the INFOMAR Programme, as well as details on INFOMAR mapped shipwrecks by divers on the north coast of Ireland.

INFOMAR is a joint venture between the Geological Survey of Ireland and the Marine Institute and follows on from the Irish National Seabed Survey. Covering some 125,000 km² of Ireland’s most productive and commercially valuable inshore waters, INFOMAR will produce integrated mapping products covering the physical, chemical and biological features of the seabed. INFOMAR has prioritised the surveying of 26 bays and 3 priority areas around the coast of Ireland.

INFOMAR – EXTERNAL EVALUATION

PwC - Ireland’s largest professional services firm - was commissioned to undertake an independent mid-term evaluation of the INFOMAR programme 2006 to 2016. (Published June 2013)

Key findings and recommendations:

»» the original INFOMAR strategy (2006 to 2016) was clear on the broad intent of the programme, but did not incorporate the level of annual detail needed to support a comprehensive interim or end-of-programme evaluation, a fact which represents a constraint on the evaluation which follows; »» there is a strong rationale for the continued public funding of the INFOMAR programme, which supports the attainment of key national and European policy objectives and regulatory obligations; »» equally, it is clear that the programme would not be progressed at the pace and (consistent) levelof quality in the absence of public funding; »» using best-available information, and referencing the small number of quantified targets contained in the strategy, the review team is satisfied that the INFOMAR programme is being implemented in a cost-efficient manner with the major quantified targets of the programme being attained within a significantly reduced financial envelope (i.e. 83% of that originally specified); »» equally, programme management has been effective in the attainment of the major objectives of the programme, specifically: the acquisition, processing, development and dissemination of survey data and related products; the attraction of international project funding; the promotion of INFOMARrelated research activities; and the provision of technical advisory services to a variety of public and private sector organisations which supports them in regulatory compliance, among others; »» additionally, and crucially important for the development of the national marine economy, the programme is also clearly effective in the development of a critical mass of marine surveying expertise in Ireland, with more than 100 contractors having been engaged and/or trained on the INSS and INFOMAR since inception; »» the economic benefits of the programme have been more muted than anticipated, reflecting the drastic change in national economic circumstances as distinct from any lack of industryrelated activity on the part of INFOMAR.

Key Recommendations:

»» ensure that future INFOMAR strategies are designed in such a manner as to support mid- and end-term evaluations, focusing on clear statements of targeted annual activity and incorporated quantified indicators of inputs, outputs and impacts; »» develop the existing performance management system of the INFOMAR programme to incorporate, as feasible at this juncture, quantified targets of inputs, outputs and impacts – including operational statistics derived from vessel daily progress reports as appropriate; »» appoint a business development and stakeholder engagement resource, on a full- or a part-time basis, to ensure that maximum stakeholder benefit is derived from the programme – diverting resources from the funding of third-party research projects as required; »» fast-track the integration of data acquired to date and its development into products, to ensure that Phase 1 of the programme is complete in full by end-2016

inshore ireland October/November 2013 25

Marine R&D

Above: Seabed Habitat Mapping; Top right: DTM Production; Middle right: EMODnet DTM Product; Bottom right: EMODnet Sediment & Substrate Mapping’

EMODnet Phase 2 initiatives Ali Robinson & Janine Guinan

T

he Geological Survey of Ireland’s (GSI) European Projects Geoscience (EPG) team successfully delivered various work packages in 2013 as part of the EMODnet (European Marine Observation and Data Network) hydrography and geology project initiative.

These included gridded water depth for the Celtic Sea at resolution of ¼ of a minute of longitude and latitude (approx. 463m) (resolution will be improved to 1/8 of a minute from mid2014, approx. 231m), and a range of seafloor geology, seabed sediment and marine geological event datasets at a scale of 1:1,000,000.

The EPG team at the GSI, along with geological surveys and research institutes from several European countries will shortly embark on EMODnet Hydrology and Geology Phase 2. These initiatives seek to build on Phase 1 and continue the compilation of marine datasets to improve the quality, availability and accessibility of a range of marine data products.

Data from the national seabed mapping programme INFOMAR (Integrated Mapping for the Sustainable Development of Ireland’s Marine Resource) continues to be instrumental in contributing Irish marine data to the project.

Geographical scope This exciting next phase involves new partners who will expand the geographical scope of the work programme to include the White Sea, Barents Sea; the seas around Iceland and the Faroes; the Bay of Biscay and the Iberian Coast; the Western Mediterranean Sea (within EU waters); the Adriatic Sea; the Ionian Sea and the Central Mediterranean Sea (within EU waters); the Aegean-Levantine Sea (within EU waters – including the Turkish sector) and the Black Sea (Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria and Ukraine) as defined in the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

EMODnet Hydrography Phase 2 seeks to improve the resolution of the existing gridded marine data product. In addition, the GSI is one of three project partners tasked in a pilot study to generate a high resolution coastal DTM (between 10 -30m) which will merge multibeam and LiDAR surveys extending from onshore out to 12 nautical miles offshore.

Phase 2 will also see compilation of new information on seabed substrate; seabed geology (bedrock and quaternary geology) including all boundaries and faults with information on Lithology (physical characteristics) and age of the geological units; minerals; geological events (e.g. earthquakes) and probabilities along with information on rates of coastal erosion and sedimentation.

The GSI will continue to lead on the minerals work package which has the objective of identifying and mapping areas of minerals (including aggregates, oil, gas and metalliferous minerals) in each of the partner countries based on information available, including publicly-available information (e.g. published scientific papers etc.).

Data products and associated metadata will be provided at a scale of 1:250,000 through a single web portal to allow data users globally to discover view and download a range of marine datasets.

The GSI’s involvement in European project initiatives has contributed significantly and adds value to the current suite of INFOMAR data and is aligned with the GSI’s ongoing commitment to recognising that marine data is a public good and should be freely accessible.

26 inshore ireland October/November 2013

Book Reviews

Sherkin Island - a local history

D

olly O’Reilly first wrote a local history of Sherkin Island in 1994 (now out of print) and in this updated edition she fills in the gaps in the historiography of the island.

She describes the physical landscape as being approximately 5 x 2.5 km, comprising 409 acres of land, most of which is fertile, except for the highest point, Slievemore which is rough, hilly and uncultivated.

Sherkin is unique among many Irish islands due to its close proximity to the mainland - just one mile off the coast of southwest Cork. A short ferry ride of ten minutes, which is rarely cancelled due to bad weather, ensures easy access to the mainland.

Six townlands

The origins of its name are uncertain. An 1821 census refers to it as Sherkin Island, also called Innisherkin; a map of Baltimore (1620) gives the name as Inisherkin Island and Petty’s Survey Map (1658) refers to Inisherkin.

The island is divided into six townlands: Slievemore (Big Hill) is named after a physical feature and Nine Gneeves after another - a measure of land (1/12th of a ploughland or ten acres.

Kilmona denotes a notable building (St Mona’s Church); Horseshoe harbour in the southeast and the townlands of Cloddagh and Farrancoush incorporate natural features.

Evidence of human existence goes back to the second half of the third millennium BC. Radio carbon dates suggest that most of the wedge tombs were built about this time or earlier, and could mark the first established community on the island.

Family names synonymous with West Cork - Carbery and O’Driscoll for example - are recorded in writings in the sixth century. Prior to and following the Anglo Norman invasion of 1169, clans driven from their original locations ‘made encroachments’ on the O’Driscoll territory; names such as O’Mahony, Barry and Sullivan started to appear.

Rivalry and piracy

About this time, ports along the east coast had been taken over by the AngloNormans. ‘Rivalry between the ancient clans of the west and the Anglo-Normans in the east had developed into deadly enmity which saw many acts of piracy and destruction on both sides.’

The friction continued

and in 1450 the citizens of Waterford and Wexford were banned from fishing in Baltimore or from having any commercial contact with the O’Driscolls.

The climax of this ‘blood thirsty period’ was in 1537 when on February 20, ‘four ships trading from Lisbon and bound for Waterford with cargoes of wine were driven by bad weather into enemy harbours of Cape Clear, Baltimore and Kinsale.’

What occurred, the author writes, deserves to be told verbatim because it was one of the key factors that led to the destruction of the island, the Franciscan Friary and Dún na Long Castle: ‘When the Gentry and Peers of those parts had tasted the wines they forgot their safe conduct and invited the merchants to dinner in the castle, seized and clapped them in irons, manner their Irish gallies and took the ship and distributed 72 tons of the wine amongst their neighbours.’

Within two weeks an expedition was launched to salvage what remained of the ship, under the command of Captain Dobbyn. He boarded the Santa Maria de Soci and drove off the O’Driscolls.

The Waterford authorities planned a reprisal and on March 27, a ‘formidable expedition, consisting of two vessels containing four hundred men… set sail….and came to anchor off Dún na Long Castle and launched an attack on the island.

Baltimore was also attacked ‘and after wreaking havoc on both Sherkin and Baltimore, the Waterford men returned to their home territory. By the end of the century, the final destruction of the O’Driscolls’ power, along with their castles in the area, was to come.’

The author notes that around this time as the economy of Cork strengthened and developed, so too did incidents of piracy.

Certain goods (tea, spirits and tobacco) were classed as ‘luxuries’ and with the many safe harbours along west Cork, pirates were welcomed by alehouses and tavern proprietors.

To address the problem, Sherkin inhabitants in 1610 were ordered to move to the mainland; it is not clear however if the evacuation took place but does indicate the measures taken to suppress piracy and illegal trading.

Marine influence

Looking at the material culture of islands generally, the author suggests this is heavily influenced by their marine environment ‘either directly or indirectly by the use and manufacturing of boats and fishing equipment and by the harvesting of food from the sea

as part of the marine economy, or indirectly by the use of seaweed and sand for fertilising the land.’

Information on a shipbuilding industry was collated by Fr James Coombes who was stationed on the island in the 1950s, and the island’s shipwrights are commemorated in poetry and prose.

Sherkin-built sloops were involved in coastal trading, transporting potato cargoes ‘from obscure inlets and the less that was known about it by the landlord’s agents and tithe proctors, the better the traders liked it.’

Famine destruction

While the arrival of the potato blight had a profound effect, trouble had been brewing since the early 1800s over pricing. A newspaper report in January 1847 describes how areas like Myros, Schull and Baltimore had supplied Cork markets with potatoes for years ‘but now the hookers which had transported the cargoes, were lying useless.’

In Sherkin, the first signs of blight appeared in 1847 ‘and its progress was not arrested till every stalk on the island was blighted before the root was event formed’.

In 1847, the Soup Kitchens Act saw stations established in twenty-four locales in West Cork, Bantry and Castletownbere but not in Sherkin and Cape Clear.

‘It is with regret I found that owing to the want of boilers the soup kitchens proposed for the islands…had not come into operation. I urged upon the Soup Committee to send on immediate supply of biscuit, rice and peas from Baltimore to these islands, the issue to be supported from the soup funds, until the arrival of boilers,’ the author quotes.

Many have asked why people starved when living so close to the sea. The Rev Thomas Fenton in an eye-witness account notes that ‘everything on the island that a single halfpenny could be raised on has been pawned.’

Another chilling account speaks of starvation resulting ‘partly from a prejudice against the use of fish as a dietary, without potatoes…’ all of which is corroborated the the Royal Commission Report of 1870 ‘which details the multitudes that had to part with their boats and gear for anything they could obtain….Nothing was advanced on boats and materials and a large amount of both rotted on the shores.’

After the famine, the fishing industry in Baltimore area was ‘negligible until the revitalisation of the local economy in the last quarter of the nineteenth century’.

Fishing & farming

Until the 1870s, Kinsale was the centre for mackerel trade but when the shoals moved west, Baltimore became the focus of the fishery.

During the 1890 season, 180 boats landed 40,567 boxes of fish that fetched an average price of sixteen shillings and eight pence.

During the 1920s-1930s, many boats were left idle due to a fall-off in trade; however fishing improved during WW2 when English fishing vessels were ‘pressed into war service’ leading to increased demand for fish caught by Irish vessels.

‘Boats from ports along the southwest coast were involved in drift-netting for mackerel and herring and long-lining for varieties of fish including cod, hake, turbot, long and dogfish.’

Until the 1970s, traditional methods of farming were still practised; cows were milked by hand, the land was worked by horses and donkeys and hens roamed freely. Today, the

island has seven farms, mostly for beef and some dairy.

The future role of commercial sea fisheries is uncertain, in terms of its ability to provide sufficient levels of income to island communities.

The author notes problems associated with the industry nationally and internationally which she says have a ‘disproportionate negative effect’ on island fisheries. ‘The decline in fish stocks, industry regulations, fuel prices, the ban on drift-netting for salmon and the ageing fleet are some of the factors,’ she says.

This local history of Sherkin is a wonderful account of the island and should tempt anyone who wants to know more to take the short ferry trip from Baltimore to enjoy wonderful scenery, serenity and hospitality that Sherkin Islands extends.

Gillian Mills

Competition The author has generously provided two copies as reader competition prizes: Q: In what year did the potato blight arrive in Sherkin?

Answers to: mills@inshore-ireland.com or by postcard to 3 Hillview Cottages, Pottery Road, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin by closing date: December 6.

Good luck!

Copies can also be ordered directly from dollyoreilly@eircom.net. Also available from: • Islanders Rest Hotel, Sherkin • Islands’ Craft Shop, Baltimore • Cotter’s Shop, Baltimore • Pierce Hickey’s Newsagents, Skibbereen • Cathal Donovan’s Bookshop, Skibbereen • Heritage Centre, Old Gas Works, Skibbereen

AUG/SEP COMPETITION WINNERS Sailing gaffers Ron Bond, Donegal Town Lorraine Flanaghan, Co Westmeath The lighthouse keeper Naomi Foley, New Ross Michael O’Driscoll, Castletownbere

Congratulations to all our competition winners.

inshore ireland October/November 2013 27

Book Reviews

Extreme Greens:

Understanding Seaweeds

T

here’s one thing for sure: author Sally McKenna is ‘passionate’ about seaweed. Her love of the seaweed environment began when she first experienced this new world to her at almost eye level from her kayak.

‘My craft took me to secret places, where the water glowed a phthalo green-blue and the rock walls were lined with spicy pepper dulse above the waterline, and purple carrageen below the waterline that sparkled with vivid blue oxygen bubbles. I wanted to know more.’

She tells us that through studying seaweed she has learnt more ‘about the tides, about the universe and about the historical content in which it was eaten. How it was used as a fertiliser, a medicine and a food.

With this knowledge she began to understand that what seaweed could ‘famously do for plants, ie make them grow tall and strong, it could also do for my children. And also for my fifty-year-old self and my husband.’

This colourful and educational study of seaweed, the superfood, emblazoned with more than 80 recipes, describes the history of seaweed in the Irish diet - back to

prehistoric times - and its use in fifth-century monastic writings.

It is clear, she suggests, that what is known today, scientifically, was learnt by experience by our forebears: that seaweed is a superfood that can regulate metabolism, cleanse the blood and stimulate the immune system.

Extreme Greens is much more than a cookery book. We learn how to recognise and forage for seaweeds; how to make natural beauty products and how to use seaweeds in the vegetable garden.

From more than 500 identified species, Sally McKenna has isolated 15 that are good for eating or for making cosmetics.

She explains how to identify and harvest these (loosely divided into three categories: green, red and brown), and a diagram of the splash zone to the sub-tidal shows were each type can be found.

And importantly, she reveals the secret to getting children to eat seaweed; the answer to which she says is simple: ‘Seaweed in a powered form can take on the flavour of anything you put it with, so a tablespoon of dilisk in a casserole, or even a cake, will not be taste-detected by a fussy child.

Should the reader be left in doubt as to the benefits of

seaweed, the author adds a footnote: ‘The Okinawans, who have the oldest demographic in the world, and whose population include the largest proportion of centenarians, eat more kombu seaweed than any other nation.

Just saying!

Gillian Mills Seaweed facts »» has twice as much Vitamin C as orange jus »» is the source of umani, the fifth taste »» contains the same concentration of minerals and elements as human plasma »» helps with weight loss and decreases food cravings »» kelp protects against high blood pressure »» is prescribed postchemotherapy as it removes pollutants from the body »» has 50 times the amount of iron as spinach »» ten times higher in calcium than cow’s milk »» contains all the minerals and trace elements necessary for human health

LEFT: Pan-fried hake with nasturtium seeds and dilisk RIGHT: Seawater spirulina smoothie.

Published by Estragon Press Ltd, Price €20

Competiton

The publishers have generously provided two copies as competition prizes.

Q: how many species does the author use in her recipes?

Answers to: mills@inshore-ireland.com or by postcard to 3 Hillview Cottages, Pottery Road, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin,

by December 6. GOOD LUCK!

Rathlin Reminiscences:

Its people, Its Stories, Its Places

O

n the eve of his 90th birthday, Loughie McQuilkin the oldest Islander on Rathlin, launched his first book, but as he told Inshore Ireland, perhaps not his last. This personal account of a bygone era was unveiled to a packed McCuaigs Bar on the island along with invited guests and friends, including UTV’s Lesser Spotted Ulster presenter, Joe Mahon.

A few selected excerpts were read from the book by Nicky Sebastian, who along with Loughie’s daughter Margaret, and extended family members Jennifer and John McCurdy, listened to Loughie’s stories and helped

to make the book happen.

Joe Mahon also read some sections, getting a laugh from the assembled well-wishers.

The book is full of fascinating history about life on the Island that was either passed down to Loughie or experienced by him, now recorded for posterity. Reminiscences is a snapshot of everyday life: local families; lighthouses; fishing; archaeology; farming practices; employment, and how islanders would spend their precious leisure time.

The book also includes many engaging photographs, as the title suggests, about its people, its stories and its places.

One of Loughie’s favourites concerns a local man, Mick Anderson, on his

way to deliver provisions to the West Lighthouse, with his donkey and cart: ‘On one particular day Mick was rushing the donkey on to get home before dark, when Fr McKinley came out of the Chapel as Mick approached. He said to Mick “now, now don’t be abusing the donkey-you know our Lord went to Jerusalem on a donkey.”

Micks reply was “by God, Father if he was on this one he would never have got to Jerusalem”! ‘ Inshore Ireland is proud to have one of their photographs featured on the front cover of the book, which was taken to support an article published in 2009 with Loughie about Model Yacht Building. See www.inshore-ireland.com Wendy Scott

Competition: The publishers have generously offered a copy as a competition prize:

Q: What age was Loughie at the launch of his first book? a) 89 years b) 90 years c) 21 again

Answer by email to mills@inshore-ireland.com or by post to 3 Hillview Cottages, Pottery Road, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin. Closing date: December 6, 2013.GOOD LUCK! Copies are also available directly from Loughie or Margaret McQuilkin on: 0044 (0) 28 2076 3983.

28 inshore ireland October/November 2013

Coastline News

Donegal school scoops national award

S

tudents and staff from Ayr Hill National School are the 2013 winners of the nationwide ‘Something Fishy’ award, with their entry: The River Leannan - under threat from invasive species.

At the award ceremony, school principal, Hilary McNutt was presented with the perpetual trophy

by Dr Ciaran Byrne, CEO of Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI), and a class trophy from Mr Brendan O’Mahony, IFI board chairman.

Minister of State at the Department of Community, Energy and Natural Resources, Fergus O’Dowd, congratulated the students and asked them to maintain their interest and enjoyment in the environment and to help conserve it.

“The level of enthusiasm in this programme has ensured the success of Something Fishy, remarked Dr Ciaran Byrne, “It has proved a highly successful way of encouraging young people to take an interest in Irish fish species, their local environment and habitat.”

Something Fishy is a project aimed at fifth and sixth classes in primary schools based on the SESE Curriculum. It aims to create awareness of the fisheries resource and to highlight the importance of the children’s local environment and fishery habitat.

The programme explores different aspects of fish life including the life cycle of the salmon, fish species, angling methods and the conservation of our rivers and lakes. It is an activity-based educational resource and is designed to be interesting and attractive to both teachers and students. Key elements of the programme are that it promotes learning about fish and the environment Members of the Something Fishy class from Ayr Hill National in a specifically local context and promotes sustainable angling.

School, Ramelton, Co Donegal.

Eithne Scott Lennon

New Chair for Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company

K

illiney hotelier, Eithne Scott Lennon, has been officially appointed as chairperson of Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company by the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport.

Owner/CEO of Fitzpatrick’s Killiney Castle Hotel, Ms Scott Lennon is the first female chair of the Harbour Company. She has been an active member of the board of since 1994 and played a significant role in the development of the Masterplan which aims to realise the Harbour’s potential as a major marine, leisure, cultural and tourism destination, as well as securing its long-term viability.

Speaking at her official appointment, Ms Scott Lennon said the harbour had “huge potential” as a tourism designation, especially since Dún Laoghaire had been designated as a centre for marine-related tourism under the National Ports Policy.

“I am constantly reminded by our customers and visitors to Killiney of the incredibly beautiful and outstanding resource we have in our area. The Harbour is the jewel of the area with such potential and possibilities. Visitors are just blown away by its natural beauty and its proximity to the city,” she said.

“Working with my colleagues in the Harbour Company, I hope to progress key elements of the Masterplan during my five-year tenure, including the development of an International Diaspora Centre; promoting Dún Laoghaire as a destination for cruise ships and completing the urban beach and floating pool project.”

“Dún Laoghaire, as a town, has faced some difficult times recently. We believe the Harbour has a significant role to play in the future economic regeneration of the town, and to the wider economy. The implementation of the Masterplan will provide significant employment opportunities. The proposed mix of uses will provide direct and indirect employment for 1,400 employees thereafter,” she added.

Trained as an hotelier in Switzerland and the United States, Ms Scott Lennon served as Director of Sales & Marketing for her family’s business Fitzpatrick Hotels Group on her return to Ireland. In 2002, she was appointed Managing Director of Fitzpatrick’s Killiney Castle Hotel.

Ms Scott Lennon has held board positions on the National Tourism Development Authority as well as serving as President of Association of American Travel Agents (ASTA) and the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association.

inshore ireland October/November 2013 29

Coastline News

‘Urban Beach’ proposal for Dún Laoghaire Harbour

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ún Laoghaire Harbour Company (DLHC) has proposed the development of a floating swimming pool and ‘urban beach’ alongside the East Pier of Dún Laoghaire Harbour, Co Dublin, which has the potential to attract 140,000 visitors and to generate up to €1m per annum for the local economy, according to the Harbour Company.

The project has been inspired by the Badeschiff facility in Berlin of a floating swimming pool on the River Spree.

The Dún Laoghaire Harbour plan proposes to use heated and treated seawater, contained on a converted river barge located within the Harbour. The barge will also house an ‘urban beach’, and a second ‘urban beach’ will be located alongside the floating structure, on Berth

1 adjacent to the East Pier.

Changing and toilet facilities, a café, an administration area, and entrance and security features are also included in the plan. An entrance fee ‘equivalent to the price of a cinema ticket’ is proposed.

Speaking at the launch of the public consultation which concluded on September 27, Tim Ryan, Operations Manager with DLHC, said the development was an “exciting and innovative element of the Masterplan for Dún Laoghaire Harbour after extensive consultation” with the local community and other stakeholders.

“It is intended that the new facility will act as a significant public amenity and tourist attraction, and will create a hub of activity within the Harbour,” he added.

A feasibility study was conducted in 2012 and a project design team was appointed earlier this year.

Artist impression of urban pool alongside the east pier The company hopes to submit a planning application before the end of 2013, with a view to having the new facility operational

by the summer of 2015.

The project is being developed by Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company with support from Dún Laoghaire

Rathdown County Council.

The overall cost is estimated at €2.5m and once operational, it is envisaged the facility will be self-financing.

Mismanagement behind marina development setback

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controversy has erupted over an EU Interreg harbour project in Donegal after marine consultant and pilotbook editor Norman Kean asked some pointed questions at a conference in September. It made front-page headlines in the local press.

“Donegal County Council, as the lead partner in the €7m Sail West/Malin Waters programme, was allocated €1.6m – the biggest single share of the capital budget – for construction of a ‘marina’ at Bunagee in Inishowen.

“The other eight capital projects under the programme, in Northern Ireland and Scotland, including marinas, facilities buildings and a world-championship-standard slipway, were completed on time and on budget; however the Bunagee project has not started and it is very likely that the money will be forfeited,” he told Inshore Ireland.

“This is now, unfortunately, water under the bridge.

But we need to make sure that future decisions are made in a well-informed, objective and transparent manner, and that this mismanagement is not repeated,” he said.

Top: Bunagee pier: Was a €1.6m marina at this rocky and exposed place ever feasible or justifiable?

Above: Also in Donegal, Fahan Marina, where failure of planning and regulation has left the north-west’s biggest community of leisure craft caught in legal crossfire, while the environment deteriorates.

Photos Geraldine Hennigan

30 inshore ireland October/November 2013

Crow’s nest

Exploring our maritime heritage the

crow's nest

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ver 100 participants recently gathered at the National Maritime Museum in Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin, to discuss the aims and challenges of preserving Ireland’s maritime heritage.

Topics discussed during the working groups and a plenary session chaired by Marcus Connaughton of RTE’s Seascapes ranged from the potential of Ireland’s maritime museums and the preservation of historic ships and traditional boats as well as shore-built maritime heritage, to maritime archives and genealogy sources, maritime tourism networks and joint marketing initiativesand partnerships.

A key concern shared by the diverse groups and institutions was the fragmentation of

the maritime heritage sector in Ireland, due in part to the geographic location of sites on the outer fringes of the Irish coastline, as well as the small scale of operations - often driven by volunteers and operating on negligent budgets.

Participants were looking at ways of creating stronger links, such as the possibility of creating a common virtual platform for Irish Maritime Heritage. Another point of common concern was the need to make all things maritime more accessible to children and youths, such as ‘adoption schemes’ linking museums or heritage groups to primary schools; internet and gaming-related technology.

Addressing delegates at the formal dinner,Jim Deenihan, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, noted that in the past Ireland had often turned its back on its maritime heritage and largely ignored its potential.

“This has started to change in the last few years and the current rising interest in heritage together with new available technologies have created a window of opportunity

for positive developments in this field,” he said.

The Maritime Heritage Gathering was organised by the Maritime Institute of Ireland.

This institution, which is based at the Mariners Church in Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin, was established in 1941 with the aim of promoting greater awareness of the Ireland’s maritime heritage of Ireland.

Its activities include operating the National Maritime Museum, conducting research, producing publications and organising regular events.

After a lengthy renovation of the historic Mariners Church, the museum re-opened last year. Work is now underway on the Institute’s library and archive database to provide rare information for professional and amateur researchers, also in the context of tracing the careers and fates of family members who had a connection to the sea.

The two-day Maritime Heritage Gathering, workshop and networking event was supported by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, The Gathering Ireland 2013 and Dun Laoghaire County Council.

L to R: Richard McCormick, Library NMMI; Minister Jimmy Deenihan TD, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht; Peadar Ward, President NMMI and An Cathaoirleach Cllr.

Carrie Smyth.

Minister Jimmy Deenihan TD with Marcus Connaughton, Seascapes

Life in the Sea Nearly half of all living things on our planet live in the Sea. The Sea is home to a huge variety of animals and plants, only 10% of which are thought to have been catalogued.

Some live at incredible extremes of temperature and pressure. Their abilities to live and thrive in such harsh environments hold the key to many opportunities including, among many others: new biochemical processes for industry across a wide range of sectors and new medicinal compounds to improve human health.

The Fenian Ram In May 1879 the Irish submarine pioneer John Phillip Holland began work on The Fenian Ram - a thirty-foot long submarine.

It was paid for from the ‘Skirmishing Fund’ of the Fenian Brotherhood in America to attack the British. But arguments over the cost and disagreement in the ranks of the Brotherhood meant the ‘Ram’ was never used in anger. Holland went on to design bigger and better submarines including the Royal Navy’s first underwater vessel . . . H.M.S. Holland.

For these and more FunFacts check out: www.spindriftpress.com

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